Royality, Thievery, and Rivalry
by Kunoichi-niichan
Summary: Jing went back to Coco-oco to reunite with an old friend. A new Journey was set before them. Heart-breaks, Forbidden Secrets, Horrid Memories. Which shall hurt most? Completed.
1. Back on Cocooco!

My first "Jing, the King of Bandits" fanfic. Please don't be too hard on me.

Disclaimer: I own only my characters, the rest belongs to the genius who created Jing and Kir and all that happy gang.

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"Jing!! Where are we going?!" the annoying black bird asked for the 15th time.

"I told you, Kir...we're going to back to Coco-oco." The boy sighed from annoyance.

"But why are we going back there?" Kir asked again. "It doesn't make sense, there's nothing to steal over there!"

"Well," Jing started as he turned his head slightly and looked at the glistening sea. "I'm just visiting a friend I met when you were mad at me." He smiled at his feathered friend. "You can use this time to visit Mimosa too."

"That's a good idea, let's me see how Russian and her are getting along. If he hasn't ditched her for her clumsy-ness yet." Kir joked. Jing just kept gazing out the window. The breeze brushing his black hair across his face. The train began to head into the ocean as the sea began to part for their trip. The xylophone's melody began to enchant the air with their beautiful tune as they rode upon the tracks. The train headed for land as the flutes began to play. "This island is too weird. Everything here is a frickin' instrument." Kir sneered.

"That's the beauty of this place." Jing replied with respect. The train soon stopped as the two got off, "Heh," Jing laughed a bit as he stepped on the piano boardwalk. He played a little tune as he walked to the marketplace as Kir rolled his eyes.

"You're so childish." Kir told him.

"Really, now?" Jing laughed. He and Kir began to walk through the not so crowded marketplace, looking at the instruments there and searching for Jing's mysterious friend.

"You sure if she's even here, Jing?" Kir asked.

"Nope, who knows. She might have left long ago." Jing told him.

"WHAT?! SO YOU'RE TELLING ME WE'RE SEARCHING FOR A PERSON THAT MIGHT NOT EVEN BE HERE?!" Kir yelled at him.

"Your point?" Jing asked indifferently. Kir just sighed. Just then, a big cloaked thing just fell from the sky and landed right in front of them. People around saw the incident and laughed and went on their way. Kir looked around and snickered.

"These people aren't that nice, huh Jing." Kir snickered. Jing just knelt down to see what the cloaked thing was.

"Ouch, stupid leaf. That's the 15th time I've tripped....That's the last time I go jumping on roofs after a storm." A female voice muttered from underneath the cloth. The cloth slid off of the person to reveal a pretty young girl. Her mahogany brown hair was all tangled and messed up, her chocolate brown eyes were wincing at the sudden brightness of the sun, in other words, she was a mess.

"HELLO, BABY!" Kir yelled, pulling a flower from who knows where and handing it to the mysterious girl. "This must be destiny, my fallen angel. For you have fallen right into the path that is..."

"Hey, Mina," Jing greeted, helping the girl up. She stumbled a bit trying to get her equalibrium straight but tripped over the cloak and fell down again.

"Ouchie," She winced. Kir looked at Jing then to Mina, and back to Jing.

"Wait, this is the girl?!" Kir asked. "My fallen angel?!"

"Her name is Mina, Kir...." Jing laughed, helping Mina up again.

"Whoot! What a rush. Never gonna do that again." She laughed at herself, brushing off the dust from her figure. "Hey, Jing! What's up? Didn't expect to see you so soon. Just got back into town myself!"

"Well, I came back to visit you. I got you something that you might like." Jing told her, reaching into his coat pocket. Mina waited with anticipation in her eyes as he pulled out "The dream of the Sleepless King." Kir looked at Jing in disbelief as he pulled out the recent treasure that they have stolen.

"Jing, are you crazy? Put that away!" Kir exclaimed, trying to swipe it from Jing's hands but Mina was quicker. She held it up to her sparkling eyes as her expression went into disbelief and awe. Jing smiled at her expression. Kir eyed Jing suspiously. "Seriously, Jing. What's with the dream and the girl....?"

"She knows who I am; in fact she's the one who figured it out." Jing informed Kir. Jing held his hand out as Mina put the orb back into his hand. "You've changed outfits, Mina?"

"Yeah, the last one was too baggy." She said, twirling around so Jing can get full view. She wore a black short mini-dress with long sleeves with lavender lining around the edges. Around her waist was a tan belt and a brown zipper bag for travelers. On her legs were black leggings, around her thigh was a black strap with another bag, but smaller so it might seem unnoticeable to anyone who wasn't looking clearly. On her feet we're black slip-on shoes. Her brown hair, although still a mess, was long and flowing like a brown cascading waterfall that descended all the way down her back. She held a ribbon in her left hand as Mina began to fix her hair and tie it back into a ponytail.

"You look great." Jing complimented. Mina smiled and giggled at the compliment like a schoolgirl when suddenly her stomach growled. She turned red as Jing and Kir burst out laughing. She bopped both of them on the head once.

"Meanies!" She yelled. Jing turned her around and smiled pleadingly.

"Let's go get some lunch then, shall we?" He said, trying to stifle back the remaining laughter. Mina allowed herself to be pushed into a quaint little cafe as Kir followed. They took a dark booth in the very back so no one can hear their conversation. They sat down as Kir landed on Jing's shoulder. The waitress came as they placed their orders and Kir got down to business.

"How does she know who you are? Where did you meet her? Tell me everything!!!!" Kir pleaded. Mina laughed, her voice sounding like the tinkling of chimes. Jing leaned back into his chair as Mina leaned forward and rested her angelic face on her petit hands. Jing took a breath and began.

"Well, I was searching for the treasure on my own when she bumped into me. Mina apologized and quickly ran away." Kir held up his wing.

"You said that she changed outfits, what was she wearing when you met her?" Kir asked with curiosity.

"A Harlem outfit. You know, like the ones the belly dancers wear." Jing said. Kir turned red as he imagined Mina in such a sinful outfit. Her cuvraious figure in such a thin and sexy outfit, just the thought of it was enough to make Kir faint with desire. Mina laughed at Kir's expression as he imagined her. "He'll snap out of it in awhile." Jing laughed. Kir suddenly shook his head and cleared his throat, nodding at Jing to continue. "Anyway, curious about this girl, I followed her to a bar where she supposly worked at and talked with her a little bit." Jing said, looking at Mina for her reaction. She smiled at him.

"Then, he grabbed my hand and pulled me close to him. Of course with such a gesture a lady would blush. He called it cute and reached into my belt pack and pulled out the green gem I swiped from him during our first encounter." Mina smiled sheepishly. Jing snickered. "Then to my surprise, he handed me my silver pocket watch that I kept with me in my pocket." She sighed. "Course that's when I knew that he was the legendary King of Bandits. No one else would have the skills to pull that off me. Errr....The watch." She laughed as Kir began to drift into dirty thoughts. Kir , again, shook that thought away.

"How so? You're just a dancer that jumps on roofs. Wait, no. A Clumsy dancer that slips off roofs." Kir corrected himself. Jing shook his head.

"You don't realize who she is?" he asked. Kir looked at Jing in confusion. "There's another thief out there, she supposedly rivals the King of Bandits in thievery. As the King has the skills to steal stars from the sky, she has the wit and ability to steal from even the gods themselves. "Jing said with respect."They call her the 'Queen of Thieves'." Jing said. Kir turned and looked at Mina.

"That's you?!" He exclaimed. Mina closed her eyes and smiled at Kir.

"What do you think?" She questioned him. Kir's jaw dropped. "Everytime a King appears, there has to be a queen that rivals with him in power. That queen is me." She stated as if telling him a proclamation.

"I figured she was the Queen of Thieves when she took the gem from me. I didn't even feel it when she took it from me." Jing said. Mina laughed.

"Just means I got skills." She laughed. The waitress soon brought them their drinks and snacks. Jing picked up his sandwich as Kir began to eat his meat pie. Mina just bit upon an apple she bought herself.

"So continue about this meeting you two thieves had." Kir said after swallowing a bit of pie.

"Me and Jing hung out for a bit. I told him my name, he told me his. I told him I knew who he was, he said that same. All that good stuff, then I left because I still needed to relieve someone of an item and he still needed to figure out the thing he was trying to take." Mina said. "That's the gist of it."

"That's putting it bluntly...." Kir sighed with disappointment.

"What? You expecting a love story?" Mina snickered. Kir looked at her slyly. "Don't keep your hopes up. I ain't falling in love with a bird." She joked. Kir looked disappointed and made a dramatic scene by putting his hand over his heart.

"Oh, you broke this poor bird's heart. Have you no heart, fair maiden?" He gasped as he dramatically twirled around and fell to the table and shot his legs up into the air before letting them drop with a thud.

"Yeah, that's what we all need, a kings of all drama kings." She laughed at Kir's little show. She leaned over and gave the little black bird a quick kiss on the head. Kir's eyes suddenly open before he grabbed her hand and knelt to his little knee.

"See, baby? That's all I needed, your kiss is all I desired to be whole again. Can't you see, we're meant to be together!" He told her. Jing smiled and shooked his head. He slid Kir away from the laughing girl and put a silver pocket watch in her hand. Mina looked at the watch the looked up at Jing with a sheepish look in her eyes. She suddenly grabbed his hand and placed his green gem in his palm. Jing looked at her with a sly look and they both bursted out laughing. Kir looked confused.

"Like the first time we met." Jing said, calming down.

"Yup! You really are the King. When did you take my watch?" she asked.

"When I was pushing you towards here," he said, "When did you take my gem?"

"When I lost my balance and fell down and you helped me up." She smiled. "A kind act was repaid with a gesture of thievery." Jing laughed and nodded in reply.

"You really are the Queen of Thieves." He admitted. They both calmed down as Kir rolled his eyes at the two.

"You guys are really weird, and I just met you!" He accused, pointing at Mina.

"Not my fault, I'm always random!" Mina defended. She waved her hand in front of her face to dismiss that topic and cleared her throat to go onto another detail. "I want to travel with you guys. To see the world as you guys see it. Plus, I want a little competition between me and Jing. Who's the better thief? The Queen or the King?" she told them.

"I think that's an answer worth searching for." Jing agreed. "Fine then, you can come with us." Mina's eyes glittered with excitement at the very thought of it. "We'll depart tomorrow for the City of Auxina." He decided. "Our target..."

"The Crown of Auxina....The crown rumor to have fell out of the sky when the gods were arguing." Mina finished his sentence. "Yes, I was going to head over there myself."

"Then it's decided. We'll leave tomorrow at dawn." Jing exclaimed. "Now, let's just find a place to rest for the night."

"As you wish, King." Mina laughed. "For tomorrow, a new journey awaits us."

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So yeah, it's pretty stupid for a beginning. Corny too. I think it'll start to get interesting in the next chapter when they go to do.....stuff. Yeah. Read and Review folks. Love ya!


	2. First Stop! Xanicur! pt1

Second chapter....hmmm...I don't think I did a very good job on this....

Disclaimer: I own Mina. :D

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"Ahh, the breeze feels great!" She said as she stretched her slender arms to the cloudy blue sky. She sighed as she looked at the rising sun and cover her eyes from its glare. Mina then looked around to see if she can find her spiky-haired friend and his pet. "Augh!" She moaned. "They aren't anywhere near here yet!" She told herself. "Jing said dawn. I'm here at DAWN! And where is he? Nowhere near the friggin train station! Is this how the king supposes to act?" She kept muttering to herself angrily as nearby pedestrians began giving her weird looks.

"Talking to yourself? You know that isn't a good sign. May show people that you're just insane." A soft voice laughed at her from behind. She flinched at the sudden voice and quickly spun around and saw the King and his Bird trying to stifle their laughter.

"Well, I wouldn't be talking to myself if YOU GUYS WERE ON TIME!!!!" She yelled at them, sending shockwaves towards the thieves. After the fierce attack, Jing checked his ears to see if he could still hear anything while Kir straightened his feathers. She huffed, "Can we go now?" She said impatiently stomping her little feet on the ground.

"Sure, sure. Just don't yell again. I like being able to hear." Jing pleaded. Mina giggled and dragged the thief onto the train and tripped on her foot landing on the green cushioned seats. Jing looked at the clumsy girl as she sat up in the row of seats.

"Ouch..." She muttered, rubbing her head.

"If this is how she's gonna be, that crown is as good as ours." Kir whispered to Jing.

"I HEARD THAT!" Mina yelled. She quickly clasped her hands over her mouth, remembering what Jing told her. She laughed meekly as he slowly turned and glared at her. "Hehe? My bad?" Jing sighed.

"I think my ears are bleeding." Kir said. Mina glared back at the blackbird. Kir just turned away, unfazed. The train jerked forward suddenly sending Mina into a face plant on the seat as the train started it's slowly descent forward. As it started gaining speed, Mina helped herself up rubbing her redden face. Kir snickered as Jing sighed. "How long are we gonna be until we get to Auxina?" Kir asked his buddy.

"I think we have to pass through a couple towns to get to that place. It's pretty far actually...." Mina answered for him, putting her finger to her chin and thought. "If I remember correctly, we should pass through Xanicur first, a normal town with a passion for dance. Then Mioria, a town dedicated to the goddess of Love, Aphrodite. We should then pass through a....." Mina slowed her pace as she had a serious look on her face. "I can't remember what else. I think it was a caravan or something like. I'm not sure...." She sighed and leaned back against the seat. Jing looked at her with a smile.

"Your pretty smart." he told her. She waved her hand in front of her face, not accepting the compliment. "I can't remember which comes next after Mioria but we can steal some treasure in those two towns first." He told her. Mina's ears perked up.

"It could be like a warm-up!" She gasped excitedly. Jing nodded, laughing at her sudden energy. "Ummm, but what's in those two towns?" She asked.

"I heard that in Xanicur there's a ruby rose." Kir told her. Mina's eyes glittered at the thought of such a pretty item. "In Mioria, there's the mirror of the Goddess of love. Something about when you look into the mirror that it'll reveal your true love." Mina looked at Kir and laughed. "What?"

"You really don't believe in that, do you?" She laughed. "A magical item that will reveal your true love? That's nothing but lies." Kir raised had a raised eyebrow at this point.

"How do you know that?" he asked curiously. Mina cleared her throat but still broke out into giggles.

"1. True love is not real. I'm sorry but that's just my belief. 2. Can an item be that powerful? No, if it's too good to be true, it usually is." She listed out. Kir sighed, apparently Kir got her point. "Still, it would be a very pretty mirror to have. I want it." She decided. "I can give it to a friend for her birthday or something." Mina thought out loud. She turns towards the window and climbs onto the chair and carefully stuck her head outside the moving train. As the train moved passed a forest, she reached her hands to a nearby branch and pulled off a red apple and quickly retreated back into the safety of the car she was in. "Here, a snack." She tossed towards Jing. He caught it reflexively and bit into the juicy fruit.

"Thanks." He said. Mina pulled out her own apple and nibbled on it as she passed Kir a sandwich she got from the cafe earlier today. As they ate their snack in silence, Jing observed how Mina acted. She usually glanced at them as if to gain information from them as well. Her eyes burned with energy and excitement, even if it was just eating a fruit. He saw something shiny from the edge of her sleeve. "What's that?" He asked, pointing to her sleeve.

"Oh, this?" She asked, pulling out a toy like item. It was like a hammer-like toy with a spike on top and a string with a ball attached to it. It was purple tinted with hints of white for the hammer like base. The ball was a lovely shade of lavender. Near the base was a small button that when pressed will recoil the string back to her. "It's my weapon! The Kendama!" she giggled.

"A child's toy is your weapon, Jing's weapon could actually strike fear into the hearts of people. Yours just make them think you're a little girl." Kir said, shaking his head. She swung the weapon at Kir as it hit him square in the face. Kir flew across the room as he hit a door, leaving a dent in it. "OW! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING MADE OF?!" He yelled, flinching to stand up. Mina ran over and picked Kir up in her arms and carried him over to where they were sitting.

"The base is made really tough type of metal, the ball is made of the same tough thing! The string is reinforced with steel to make it really tough." She told the silly wounded bird. "I'm really sorry, Kir, but even toys can be dangerous in the right hands!" She told him. "Feeling better? I hit you lightly too."

"LIGHTLY?! IT WAS LIKE A WRECKING BALL!!!" Kir yelled. Jing clasped his hand over Kir's beck.

"You're pretty strong to wield such a weapon. Clever too, a weapon disguised as a toy so no one will give you a second look." He smirked. Mina clapped her hands and giggled. She bowed to Jing.

"Thank you for such a compliment, your highness." She acted. The train suddenly started slowing down. "I assume were in the town of Xanicur." She stuck her head out the window again to see people dressed in samba dresses and Mexican hats and so on and so forth. "Oh yeah! The festival!" She quickly turned to Jing, "Can we stay and see the festival? Please?" Jing looked out the window and saw how festive everything is.

"Sure, looks like fun." He told her. Mina exploded, jumping up and down squealing.

"Yay! Come on then! Let's go!" She said, putting her kendama away on the bag around her waist and grabbed Jing's hand. "Let's go! Hurry up!" She told them. Mina practically shoved the two out of the train as she nimbly jumped out of the train herself. Jing, with Kir on his shoulder, and Mina walked through the crowded town overhearing the conversations of others.

"The dance competition is going to be fun this year."  
"I'm going to win!"  
"Did you hear that the winner gets that treasured Ruby Rose?"

"No way, really? That's been in our town for ages! Why is it a prize?"

"I don't know, maybe they had two?"

Jing and Mina smiled at each other as a plan formed between them. "Wanna enter?" He asked.

"Course, it will be fun!" She replied. "But first, Wardrobe change." She laughed. They both departed for a couple minutes and later, Jing was the first one to arrive back at the meeting place. He dressed up in a handsome black, crisp suit with a vibrant, red rose pinned on his shirt. Jing looked around for Mina but couldn't find that girl anyway. "How do I look?" a voice asked suddenly, Jing turned around to see Mina laughing. She twirled around so he could get a better look. She wore a black and red frilly dress, her legs were bare and smooth as her feet were laced with black heels. Her hair was down and it flowed freely along her back like a silk waterfall. Her bangs were smoothed to the side with a rose pinned behind her ear to perfect the picture.

"Wow......You look.....Wow." Kir said. Jing smiled and bowed, taking her hand. Mina laughed.

"It seems the competition is tonight, can ya dance?" She asked Jing.

"Of course I can, can you?" He asked her.

"Of course I can." Mina said. "Let's head over to the competition then." She smirked. As soon as Jing and Mina began to leave, Kir stopped them.

"I'm a look for the ruby just in case the prize their giving out is a fake, Okay? Okay. Bye." Kir said, flying off. Jing and Mina looked at each and sighed.

"Dumb bird will find any reason to escape, huh?" Mina asked Jing. Jing nodded and laughed. "Let's hurry and win this thing. This dress is not my style, hell dresses are never my style. These heels hurt too. I can't believe I have to dance in this thing. I mean how do people expect us girls to..."

"Please, shut up. I'm trying not hit you right now." Jing said through gritted teeth. Mina looked at Jing shocked and covered her mouth with her hands. _Oopsie, I made Jing mad and annoyed._ She laughed softly. _He seems sorta cute when he's mad._ She thought. She shook her head and sighed trying to get rid of the thought. She glanced up at him again and giggled; Jing saw and rolled his eyes. _Goodness, first she's running her mouth off and now she's just giggling to herself. The Queen just had to be an insane bi-_

"LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN!" The announcer yelled, interrupting Jing's thoughts. "The rules here are simple; the best pair of dancers shall win the coveted rare treasure of Xanicur! The Ruby Rose!" The crowd roared with excitement. Soon the competition began; couples from different places dance their hearts out with passion. Some to be the best, some to win the prize, some just to have fun. Soon, the competition was drawing to a close. "I guess there's no more couples, the winner will soon be de-" Some music started drifting through the air as a spotlight shone in the middle of the dance floor. Mina stood in the middle of the spotlight, a rose between her lips and a glint in her eyes. The drums began their melody as her body started swaying to the beat. Her footsteps so light and airy, she seemed to be dancing on air. The rhythm she exposed was so contagious. Soon, everyone soul in the room was keeping time with her hands. Jing watched from the crowds as he gazed in awe. He was entranced. _She's moving with such ease and diligence. _He thought. He couldn't find any words to describe the lithe creature he saw performing her seductive dance. She danced so gracefully and majestically. All of the sudden, the music stopped as Mina froze in a waiting position. Her slender hand out and waiting for her partner to come to her. She breathed hard as the sweat ran down her face as if she was in the middle of a rain shower. Everyone turned to see who she could be waiting for; they all turned to one direction, Jing. Jing smirked as Mina caught that smile; he slowly began to walk forward as the music started to begin. They both started dancing as Jing began to feel the passion that radiated from Mina's inner soul. They both moved together as one, both keeping time with each other so perfectly. They both danced with such passion that soon everyone was enchanted by their lovely routine. The moon shone in their eyes as they spun around the dance floor. Slowly, the music started dying as Jing slowly dipped Mina into a low graceful stance. They both were panting and out of breath and sweating too. Everyone roared with pleasure at the end of their charade. Jing and Mina did not notice the crowd; all they saw was just each other.

"Wow," Jing gasped.

"Yeah, you can let me up now." Mina panted. Jing breathed a little before he helped Mina back up to the standing position. They both bowed towards the crowd. "That was amazing. You're an amazing dancer."

"You danced so gracefully. With such passion, too." Jing told her. Mina turned to him and smiled.

"It's obvious who won! Let's give these two a round of applause!" The announcer stated. "I am proud to present to you, the Ruby Rose!" He said, holding out a beautifully carved wooden box. He lifted the lid and presented the two with the coveted jeweled flower. Mina reluctantly picked up the rose and held it in her hand, she carefully handed it to Jing. Their eyes met and that's all that was needed to understand why Mina was so reluctant to take it. It was a fake. A glass rose. That's all it was. Mina turned to the announcer.

"Thank you, it was a pleasure to be here today!" She said, with a cheerful attitude. "Farewell and goodnight!" Mina bided. This time, Jing ahead of her, he pulled on her hand as she stumbled along with him. They both disappeared into the crowd and hid in an abandoned shop. The crowd soon dispersed for the night as Jing and Mina started changing into their regular clothes. "Oh my god, it feels soooooo good to wear normal shoes for once." She sighed with pleasure. "You do not know how good this feels right now."

"Better than the dance?" Jing asked, fixing the lace on his shoe. Mina giggled a bit.

"Nope, that was beyond amazing. You really are amazing, you know that? No wonder girls are always falling for you." She said, stretching her body to remove any kinks.

"And you know this how?" He asked. Mina cocked her head and smirked at him.

"A girl knows things. Let's see, there was Rose. She kissed you. Then Stir, you kissed her." She listed, sounding a little jealous when she mentioned Stir. Jing turned a little red, but it wasn't noticeable. "Hell, even a por vora fell in love with you." she squealed. "That was just too adorable!"

"Again, how do you know this? We're you stalking me?" He asked, sounding a little cautious.

"Well, with Rose she sorta was telling people that she kissed a handsome bandit. I passed by that town for a bit. With Stir, it was kinda obvious. You like her. I was there for the masquerade so I know that." She sounded a bit bitter when talking about Stir. She bit her lip for a bit before starting again. "With the Por Vora thing, Kir told me, along with his broken proposal." She giggled. Jing sighed.

"You really are one of a kind, aren't you?" He asked. Mina laughed and picked up the fake rose from the table.

"Now, let's go get the real Ruby Rose. This fake one is pretty but it's just glass." She decided.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Jing said wisely. He picked up the glass rose then put it in his coat pocket and then opened the window wide open revealing a velvet night sky with twinkling lights.

"So, after this heist, are you gonna steal anymore stars?" She joked. Jing snickered and lightly punched her in the shoulder.

"Let's just go now, okay?" He told her. Mina laughed and nodded.

"Sure thing, King." And with that they both jumped out of the window ready to get their treasure in their hands.

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Okay, I had split this chapter into two because it was just too long to fit into one chapter. The Dance part was fun to write and when I wrote that part, I could imagine it in my head too. I think I did a bad job with this chapter. I'll work harder on the second chapter when there's a fight scene. xP


	3. First Stop! Xanicur! pt2

2nd part of the first part.....wow that sounded stupid. Anyway, yeah. I hope I do a good job on this one.

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Jing and Mina both leapt onto the top of a building and scanned their surroundings. "I'm worried about Kir." Jing glanced at Mina when she spoke. She held her hand near her chest, holding onto something that he couldn't see. In her eyes were filled with concern as they stared up at the diamond sky. She blinked once and her troubled look was replaced with a determined look. "I'm sure he can handle himself," she said, trying to mask her fretfulness. "Our main objective here is the Ruby Rose." Mina started walking towards the edge of the building and took a look at the ground. She backed up a little and fell on her bottom. Jing looked at her confused.

"You okay?" He asked. She cocked her head back at him with a little discomfort.

"That's a long way down." She laughed nervously. Jing looked at her bewildered and busted out laughing. "Why are you laughing at me?!" She cried in distress.

"You're the legendary Queen of Thieves! You can steal from the gods themselves and yet you're scared of heights! I find that to be more than ironic." He said between giggles. Mina started blushing at this new known fact. Red stained her pale face giving them a pale rose shade. Jing finally quieted down as Mina glared at him.

"I'm not scared!" Mina yelled. Jing shushed her in case anyone was listening. "I'll show you, I'll get that rose first!" She told him. She staggered up trying to regain her balance and brushed off the dirt upon her clothes. She pulled out the kendama from before and tossed the ball towards a flag pole. The ball wrapped itself around the metal pole as she secured it and made sure it's tight. She jumped off the building swinging herself high over the town. She gracefully landed on the building about 30 feet away. She pressed a button on her little toy recollecting the string and the ball, returning them into their original position. She giggled and looked over at Jing who nodded with approval on the past building. Mina read his lips as he spoke. _I'll give you a 2 minute head start, good luck Queen of Thieves. _Mina grew angry. _He's not taking this seriously! He's just toying with me! I'll show him, the Queen shall show this King whose boss! _She turned her back to him in a huff and started jumping off the buildings leading to her true destination. Jing looked at Mina as she started scurrying away until she's only a little dot in his line of vision. He stared up at the sky as Kir flew down and landed on his shoulder.

"I heard everything! I told ya we were meant for each other, Jing. Did you see how worried she was about me?" Kir went on and on as Jing started plotting how to beat Mina at her own game. "Oh yeah, Jing." Kir started. "Why'd you tell me to lay low for awhile?"

"Because, Kir. I need to see for myself if this Queen is all she's cracked up to be. I just need to test out her abilities without an annoying albatross in the way." Kir ignored that jab at his ego. "She's got skills but it seems like there are some obstacles blocking her way." Jing decided. _Either that or she has a really good poker face. _

"So let's get going, Jing! We don't want her to beat us to the rose!" Kir stated. Jing nodded.

"Even if she does get it, she won't have anything to replace it with so that no one will notice its missing. I got the fake one right...." Jing reached into his pocket only to find that nothing was there.

"Right where, Jing?" Jing smirked. _I was right._ "Don't tell me that chick took it?" Jing just smirked, a playful look in his eyes. _This could be an exciting trip after all._

Meanwhile, Mina finally got to the building where the treasured Ruby Rose was kept. "Heh," She sighed. "This is going to be fun." She slowly climbed down the wall, using the indentations where the bricks were placed as handles and ledges to make her way safely down. She swung herself into the nearest building window and quickly hid herself within the confines of the shadows. The one of the guards started making his rounds. As soon as he passed by the door, Mina quickly ran from her hiding place and down the hallway very quietly. The guard felt a presence behind him and quickly turned around only to see a shadow in the corner of his eye fade away. He rubbed his eyes and yawned and continued making his rounds. Mina hid around the corner and sighed a breath of relief. She quickly ran down the hallways, trying to locate the room where they held her prize. Every lit hallway looked the same; the doors were rustic and the red carpet torn and dirty. The green walls gave off an eerie feeling to them. Mina slowed her pace down and closed her eyes, listening to everything around her. She heard a soft clink in the room 2 doors down. She slowly walked forward 15 paces and quietly opened the door. _Strange, you would think that if this was the room with the rose, it would be guarded a little more carefully._ When the door finally opened, there were 5 guards waiting for her on the other side.

"What do you think you're doing here?" One of the gruff guards spat. Mina knew she was in trouble if her identity was revealed. Luckily, she had her wit. Her eyes got teary and her face got red as she fell down to the ground and started crying.

"I lost my cat, Jewel." She cried convincingly. Tears fell from her face like raindrops. The guards started feeling sorry for the lost little girl.

"Don't worry, sweetie. We'll search for your Jewel." One of the guards said, feeling heart-broken. "Guys, Split up and look for the cat. Little girl, what does your cat look like?"

"She's a black cat with a white spot on her back." She sniffled. The guards nodded and all but one left searching for the cat.

"I'll stay with you so you won't be lonely, okay?" He asked the girl. Mina hiccupped and wiped her tear away. She turned her head sideways a little to hear that the footsteps of the men are long gone. She pulled out the Kendama out of her sleeve and started playing with it instead of responding. "That's such a cute little toy, mind if I see it?" he asked.

"Sure," She said, smacking him in the face with it. The guard fell to the ground out cold as she stood up and brushed herself off. "That was too easy." She slowly walked to the other room, carefully closing the door behind her and turned to see the beautiful rose lying in the middle of the room. It shone magnificently on a pedestal made of white marble. _Damn, that is a pretty flower._ She started to take one step forward when something told her to stop. She retreated back and plucked a strand of hair from her head and dropped it on the floor in front of her. Electricity sparked at the hair, setting it ablaze, turning it into nothing more than a pile of ash. Mina breathed as sigh of relief. _Thank God for woman's intuition. _On the ground, Mina noticed that among the dark squares upon the floor, there were also lighter squares. She took a chance and carefully walked onto the lighter ones. Nothing happen. She smirked and carefully made her way into the middle of the room using her new method. Her dainty footwork made her look as if she was dancing through the room instead of walking. She finally reached her treasure as she reached her hand in to touch the rose. _Wow, no lasers. I guess these guys just thought that the electrical floors would be enough. Unless this is just like that action movie. _She retreated her hand back; instead she went to the bag on her hip and pulled out the glass rose. _Good thing I took it from him when he wasn't looking._ She carefully moved the glass rose towards the ruby one and replaced it. She pulled back the Ruby Rose and hugged it against her body, looking around. _Okies, if I did it wrong, the ground should be crumbling and the walls caving in. _Nothing happened. _Whew, that was a close one._ She laughed. Mina put the Ruby Rose into her bag and slowly jumped on the lighter tiles and made her way of the room. She heard some moaning on the other side of the door. _Uh-oh, he's waking up...._She quickly looked around to see a vent on top of the door. Taking her chances, she leapt up and climbed into the small compartment and shimmied her way through the tight corners. She tried looked for a way out from her dilemma. After a couple minutes of crawling, she finally found another went opening. She kicked it open and jumped out. "God, that was tight!" She complained stretching her body to relieve the kinks. "Oh, right." She remembered, she hurried to one of the unoccupied rooms and carefully made her way towards a window. She pulled out her little toy and swung the ball at a nearby flagpole and leapt out of the room. Mina carefully landed on the roof away from the previous building about 20 feet away. She replaced the Kendama back into her sleeve and sat on the gravely ground. "Looks like I beat Jing!"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." a voice from behind surprised her. She jumped up and turned around to see Jing running towards her, his blade revealed from his sleeve. He slashed at her only to be blocked by her weapon. "Remember how you told me not to take it easy on you?" Jing pushed upon the blade. Mina started to crumple underneath his strength.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She forced the words out. She buckled her knee and swept at his feet. He jumped up and flipped 2 feet away from the girl. Mina fell to her knee, panting. "A little warning would be nice next time." She smirked.

"What? Tired already?" Jing taunted. "This contest isn't over until the sun rises." Mina looked up at the sky to see that the moon was already setting.

"That means we only have a couple more hours, or minutes......" Mina said. Jing nodded.

"Kir! Now!" He yelled. Shocked, Mina looked up and saw a giant rock falling from the sky. She jumped back, avoiding the stone as Kir swooped down trying to hit the girl. Mina ducked and grabbed Kir's wing, he yelled as Mina threw him at Jing.

"Two against one. Isn't that a little unfair?" She asked, panting. Crawling through the narrow vent has taken its toll on Mina. Jing can see this clearly. He charged at her again as she swung the ball at him. He slid to a stop, deflecting the attack before it can hit him. Before he can recover from that blow, she swung at him again. She attacked again, and again, and again. Jing deflected it again, and again, and again. Growing tired of this routine, he jumped back and dodged the attack instead. Mina swung the ball back towards her balancing the ball and catching it on the spike. Jing stood completely unfazed as Mina fell to the ground, panting. Jing walked up towards Mina as she looked up at the King. He knelt down towards her and held out his hand.

"You win." Mina looked at ashen eyes. She looked up at the sky as it began to lighten up. The sun started shining. She turned her gaze back at Jing and smiled.

"I told you, I don't go down that easily." Mina said, she pulled the Rose from her bag and handed it to Jing. "I have no use for it. You take it. I just wanted to beat you." She panted. Jing grabbed the rose and placed it in his pocket. "The Queen: 1. The King: 0." She laughed. Her strength drained from her, she collapsed. Jing caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.

"Heh," He laughed quietly. Kir landed on his shoulder quietly.

"Even the Queen gets tired easily. Huh, Jing." Kir joked.

"But she was a tough one to beat." Jing responded.

"No way, you were just taking it easy on her. I beat you could have taken that rose from her in a heart-beat." Kir said. Jing picked Mina up and carried her down the building. Mina lay asleep in Jing's comforting arms. _Yeah, Kir. I did take it easy on her...In a way, she reminds me of Stir. I don't why but she does..._

"So, Kir, Where'd you go for your little laying low mission?" Jing asked.

"Trying to find the pretty ladies!" Kir exclaimed. "There are none here! All of them are more into dancing than romance. I'm telling ya Jing, now I've seen it all!" As Kir continued his rabble, Jing's mind was someplace else. _The rose is our now, but I want to test you further. Let's see how you do with Mioria. _He brushed her brown bang to the side of her head and looked ahead. _Let's see what tomorrow has in store for us._

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OMFG! Noooooo!!!! This chapter was horrible! Argh! I thought the fight scene could be ALOT better! Nooooo! What's wrong with my writing skills?! Ugh! I'm gonna go emo in my corner....


	4. Second Stop! Mioria!

4th chapter....I'm losing so much faith in my writing skills. I'm losing the will to write. Must get inspiration!

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_You are nothing. You are worthless. _"I understand." _Your life is meaningless. You have no meaning. _"I understand." _If you were to die, no one would care. No one would miss you. _"I understand." _That is why we have taken you as our child. You will do anything we say, for we are all you have. _"I.....understand."

"I understand....I understand...I understand..." Jing looked over to the sleeping girl in the seat next to him as she started stirring. It was noon and after all that fighting and stealing at Xanicur, everyone was tired. Jing took only a short nap and woke up not too long ago. Kir was still snoring away in the seat on the right to Jing as Mina slept on the left. "I understand...." She muttered as Jing glanced at the dozing girl. Mina shifted a little in her seat and fell onto the hard floor. Sleepily, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She glanced up at the King of Bandits with two watery brown eyes. "Mornin' Jing..." She yawned. Mina stood up and stretched her limbs with a satisfying crack and sat back down into her seat.

"What do you understand?" He asked her. Mina stared at the floor lifelessly, no response. "Hello, Earth to Mina..." He gently hit her on the head as she flinched from the suddenly attack. Her shocked status gently softened as she laughed at herself for being scared of the simplest tap.

"It's nothing, Jing. Just a dream...." she said, returning her gaze back at the ground. "Just a bad dream....." she muttered. Jing gave her a worried glance as Kir snorted a little before returning to his peaceful slumber. "Ugh, how can you stand to be around that thing?" She said, plugging her ears. "I swear, even earthquakes aren't as noisy as that little creature." Jing laughed at her statement. Grimacing at Kir's awful snoring, she pulled out her Kendama out of her bag around her thin waist and smacked Kir with full force. It was a direct hit but it still did not wake him up. "ARGH!" She yelled. Jing laughed at Mina's reaction. This is really the first time she's been with Kir.

"He won't wake up that easily...." Jing advised.

"Not even for pretty girls?" She asked, desperate for that infernal snoring to stop. Jing shook his head. Mina looked like she was about to cry. Jing laughed. He then turned and looked at out the window at the shining blue sky. Mina noticed this and looked out the window too. Outside was a faint shape of the luxurious city Mioria.

"The city of Mioria, the city dedicated to the Goddess of Love." Jing stated. Mina made a strained face. "Kir's snoring is really that bad?"

"No, the city....I can't stand it! How can couples be all lovely-dovey like that?! It's sickening!" She grimaced. Jing looked at her face and busted out laughing. "What?!"

"Your just saying that cause you never had a boyfriend, am I right?" Mina was shocked at such an accusation. Slowly, a red blush began creeping up her face as she quickly turned her back to Jing to hide that fact. "I'm guessing I hit the nail right on the head."

"Shut up!" She turned around and hit Jing once on the head with her Kendama. "Just cause I never had a boyfriend doesn't mean anything!"

"You never had a boyfriend?" Jing asked, bewildered. Mina quickly shut up. Jing snickered and patted her head. "It's okay."

"Sure, just words. You had tons of girlfriends I bet." Mina pouted. Jing didn't argue, he just laid back, resting his head on the leather green seat. Mina glared at him. Jing laughed at her pouty face. He cupped her chin in his hand.

"You're cute when you're mad." Mina stared him down, not amused. Jing looked for any hint of embarrassment from her ivory cheeks. He found nothing.

"Not funny, Jing...." She told him. She slapped his hand away and slumped into the seat, her dainty little hands covering her eyes. Jing forgot that Kir was still asleep. He put his hand on her head, brushing her silky hair for her. Mina slapped his hand away. "Stop that! It's annoying!" She snapped at him. "If you're gonna be all touchy and stuff, then get Kir to stop snoring! If you don't, I will!" Jing's hand snapped back when she hit him, she put in a little more force than intended.

"I told you, there's nothing that can wake that bird up." He told her as if listing something obvious.

"You're thinking like a male, if you're a female then you would have a couple ideas." She smirked deviously. She picked up the sleeping albatross and clamped his beck shut.

"That's your idea?" Jing asked, unamazed.

"Don't be hasty now, just watch." She giggled. "First attempt, Pretty Girls...." She narrated at Jing's expense. She leaned in close to Kir's ear and whispered in a soft but audible voice. "Hey, Kir....Me and my friend here would like to buy you a few drinks, you in?" As a response, Kir snored even louder. Jing laughed at her attempt. "Second attempt, food... Hey Kir, I heard you like grapes. Wanna have some from the.....garden?" Mina quickly made up. Jing shook his head. She glared at him. "I know pathetic. Here goes the third attempt, Lust." Jing's eyebrows rose at this idea. She cleared her throat and made it as sensual and seductive as she could. "Hey, Kir...Why are you sneaking up on me while I'm undressing? I have no clothes on and you pretend like it's nothing? You're such a cheeky devil." She whined. Kir's eyes shot open as he flew and hit the roof of the train.

"Why don't be ashamed! Your body is nothing to be.....Hey, wait a minute!" Mina giggled as Kir flew back down to eye level. "You tricked me!" Mina laughed.

"Your fault! Your snoring was so painful I had to do something! Plus, " She reached into her bag and pulled out a tissue, "You might wanna wipe your nose. You got a nosebleed." She giggled.

"Of course I would! What man wouldn't have a nosebleed by that performance?!" He argued with her. She pointed over to Jing. "Even Jing's a little star struck by you." She tilted her head to see Jing a little dazed, his gaze right at her.

"Uhhh, Jing?" She asked, waving her hand in front of his face. "Even the King of bandits can be seduced....Wow...." Kir snickered a little as Mina tried to get Jing out of his daydream. "Helllllooooo, anyone in there?" She looked a bit annoyed after a couple attempt. She snapped her fingers once.

"Huh? What?" Jing finally landed back on earth and looked around. He saw a snickering Kir and an annoyed Mina. "What?"

"Apparently while trying to wake Kir up, I seduced the King of Bandits into a temporary coma..." She said annoyed.

"Well, who can resist the charms of such a lovely girl?" He said, putting his soft hand against her face. Mina's happy look disappeared like a light from a candle that was just blown out. She grabbed his hand and tossed his grip away.

"I thought I told you to stop!" She yelled at him. "What am I to you?!" Jing froze at her question. "Answer me, Jing!" Jing's eyes didn't leave her gaze, he said nothing. "I am not one of those stupid naive girls you just.....charm. I am different, and I refuse to be lured into something as stupid as this!" Jing held her gaze. In her eyes, he saw pure anger.

"I never said any of those." He argued back.

"You're showing it in your actions. Actions speak louder than words, Jing." She glared at him.

"I am a Thief. I am a Good Thief. I am The Queen of Thieves. I am not going to be toyed with by any man! I don't care if you're a neighbor, a kid down the street, the King of Bandits, or a God! I will not be toyed with!" She slammed her hands down onto the leather seats and leaned in close to Jing's face, staring him straight in the eyes. "For the record, I am your rival. Which means only one of us can be the best. In this world, there's only one room for royalty and I'm planning to claim that position for me." Jing pushed Mina back gently.

"There's a thing called personal space." He chastised her. "Plus, I never said any of that. I do think that I am the better thief here though. The Kings are the strongest in this game of ours." Mina held up her hand. She shook her head and coyly smiled at Jing, a confused looked creeping onto his face.

"This game of ours is not any game. You are the King, I am the Queen. In this game, I am the strongest. Think of it like Chess. I am the most powerful piece. I am already 1 point ahead anyway...." She laughed.

"Don't get too cocky, this battle is just beginning." Jing said, his eyes burning with excitement.

"Bring it on, Street-rat." She taunted. Kir just sighed at the two.

"You two are so annoying, you know that?" Mina broke their gaze and quickly slapped Kir on the back.

"Hahaha, Sure, Kir. We might be annoying but you know you love us!" She said with a cute look on her face. The train suddenly jerked and slowed to a stop. Mina's eyes suddenly lit up, "Whoot!" She yelled and jumped out the window, landing on her feet on the ground of the loading dock. "Yo, Jing! This challenge is gonna be like the last one! First one to get the mirror wins! This time, whoever gets the mirror first wins. Okay? 'Kay! See ya later!" She laughed, running off into the crowd of pedestrians. Jing leaned out the window and saw her run away.

"Oi, Jing. That is one crazy chick you picked up. I mean, I've seen crazy before but, she's a mental nutcase." Kir told Jing. Jing just laughed.

"That's what makes her interesting..." He said, his eyes soften slightly as he remembered the excitment in her eyes.

"Hey, Jing. Are you falling for that chick? You were all flirting with her a few minutes ago." Kir asked, curious.

"Of course not, Kir. I'm just testing her; I want to see if this Queen is all she's cracked up to be. That's all." Kir breathe a breath of relief.

"Good, cause I don't want any kids. I'm too young to be a grand-birdie." He laughed.

"Let's go, you annoying chatterbox." Jing grabbed Kir's wing as he pulled him off the train. He slung his bag over his shoulder and slowly walked amongst the Miorians.

Hearts were pasted everywhere as red streamers and pink heart shaped balloons filled the air. The people here were also dressed to the theme of love. Boys were wearing black and red clothing; Girls were wearing girly pink dresses and blue and pink outfits. There were huge statues of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, around every corner. The giant marble statue towered over the small humans, casting a long shadow from its base. Jing looked up at the huge thing.

"These people here take love seriously, huh Jing?" Kir asked. Jing nodded as he stood in the shade of the statue.

"They're devoted to it. It's basically their religion, Kir." He said wisely. "So, try not to say anything that might get us killed, 'kay Kir?" Jing warned him. Kir's big mouth has gotten them into trouble once and Jing's not gonna let it happen again this time. Not when there's so much at stake. Jing's thoughts went back to the contest as he glanced around to see where a mirror that could reveal your true love can be found. His attention was caught by the black bird straightening his feathers, pulling a rose to his beak and checking his reflection in a nearby window. "Uhhh, Kir....What are you doing?"

"Easy, Jing; If these girls are looking for love, who better to give it to them than the handsome Kir?" He said, winking at mirror self.

"Lots of people, Kir. I don't think these girls are looking to date a bird...." He said, crushing's the poor bird hopes and dreams. Jing laughed softly as a dark rain cloud slowly appeared over Kir's head. His laughter was silenced as he noticed a moving dust cloud heading towards his position. A dirty motorcycle pulled up beside the two.

"Hey there Jing, I heard you picked up an old friend for your journey." The mysterious man said to him.

"Hey, Postino. Yeah, you heard right." Jing laughed.

"I'd keep an eye on that Queen of yours. She might end up stealing more than she meant too." He laughed softly to himself. "See ya, Jing." With that he went off into the distance to deliver more goods. Jing looked at him a little puzzled. Even though he could usually understand Postino's riddles, this one had him stumped. Kir tugged on Jing's sleeve with his beak.

"Jing, look!" He said, pointing to a nearby church. He saw what Kir wanted him to see. A feminine shadow creeping along the artistic arches of the building. "That's probably where their keeping that mirror. Let's hurry before that demented chick of your get it!"

"Got it, Kir." Jing said, running towards the building. He quickly ran into a nearby alley and leapt off the walls, gaining more air with each leap. He gently landed on the roof and shaded his eyes from the sun and quickly ran and leapt from each rooftop and landed on a building right next to the church. Jing spotted a guard that was making his rounds heading in his direction. With ease, Jing jumped off the roof and grabbed the ledge of the window, hanging there for dear life. Kir bit Jing's sleeve to hang on with him. The guard stood by the window and gasped at the beautiful scenery that the window carried. He sighed and coughed slightly and made his way around the corner. Jing pulled himself up and Kir flew up to the windowsill.

"I swear, I never thought he would leave. God, if he had stood there longer we probably wouldn't have made it." Kir complained. Jing shushed the bird to be quiet as he carefully listened to the ambience around him. He leapt from the windowsill and ran around the corner to find a bronze colored door. Jing smirked as he carefully opened it and entered. He closed it behind him. "Oh my god...." Kir gasped. Jing turned around in time to see a floor covered in unconscious guards and the Queen of Bandits standing alone in the middle of the wasteland. She walked up to the teed off pedestal and grabbed one of the velvet roped securing the mirror away at a distance. A soft light shone from the roof and reflecting off the mirror. Mina fell to the floor on her knees, her head looking towards the ground. "Jing, this is your chance! Hurry and get that mirror!" Kir told him. Jing just walked towards the fallen girl, avoiding the bodies, and knelt down beside the fallen Queen.

"I.....I....This will be your win. I don't want that mirror." Mina said. "I don't want to know who the hell my true love is. I never believed in love. I'm not worthy enough of love. I intend to keep that true...." She whispered. A dark shadow covered her pain-stricken face. "I was never worthy, I will never be worthy..." she muttered to herself. Her voice cracked as she tried to maintain a straight face. Jing slowly stood up and grabbed Mina's arm and pulled her arm. She shoved him away. "Fine, if you don't want it then I'll have to take it. Don't blame me if what I do with this treasure harbors regret from you!" She said. She pulled out a slender dagger from her sleeve and cut the rope in two and grabbed the mirror herself. "I win again, Bandit King." She growled. She lifted the mirror high above the ground and let it go. The mirror slowly fell to the ground; Mina closed her eyes waiting for the shattering sound of the mirror. She never heard it. Slowly, Mina opened her eyes to see Jing holding the mirror, deeply gazing into its reflection. A shocked look creped on Kir's and Mina's face.

"Jing! What are you doing? Put that mirror down right now!" He ordered, Jing just held the mirror up and held it next to Mina's shocked face.

"Now I understand what Postino was trying to tell me...." He muttered. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the mirror against a wall, shattering its magic and its bonds to this world. Jing held out his hand to the shocked girl and softly smiled at her. Mina's eyes burned with rage. She slapped his hand away and ran towards the wall. Mina stopped short at the huge window facing a wide open field. The soft breeze ruffled the grass and the flowers along its green sea. Mina turned around to look at Jing, her eyes still burned with rage and anger for what he has done. She took a deep breath and leapt out the window without as much as a good-bye to them.

"What just happened?" Kir asked. Jing laughed softly to himself.

"Nothing Kir. It's nothing." He responded.

"Who did you see in the mirror?" Kir flew down from where he was perched and landed on the Bandit's shoulder.

"Take a guess," he offered.

"Was it Stir? I bet you it was Stir, you and her get along well together!" Kir asked. Jing said nothing, he just smiled. "I knew it!" Kir said, confirming it himself. Jing ran towards the window and jumping through it using his momentum to keep himself steady and followed the ripples flowing through the lush green grass. A roar filled the air as another dirt cloud follow Jing and his bird. Soon, Postino arrived again with a letter waiting for the King. The envelope was a pearl white color lined with dusted gold. _To: The King of Bandits. From: The Queen of Thieves. _Postino waved to Jing and drove off as Jing ripped open the letter. Kir read the letter aloud over his shoulder.

_Dear Jing,_

_By now I guess I'm not gonna be traveling with you anymore. I'm still mad at what you did. No one is suppose to look in that mirror. Even though I'm mad at you now, that anger will soon dissipate and stuff. So anyway, before we get the crown I have a feeling that there's one more place you want to visit. I'll meet you at its gates. If you are even one day late, that treasure is mine.....Even though I have no idea what it is.....Hurry up and get here! I wanna know what that treasure is!_

_Signed,  
Mina, The (Stronger, Prettier, Better than the King of Bandits) Queen of Thieves._

"Who does this chick this she is?" Kir grumbled. "What is this treasure she's talking about? Where are we going?" Jing closed his hand around Kir's beak to shut him up.

"Our next stop is the city of Formidine, The city of Fear." His mouth curled up into a slight smile. _Once we get there, I'll be able to gather what I need...._

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Okay, this was a hard chapter to write, Writer's block got to me. Anyway, Mina's mood change will be explain in the next chapter and (Hope to dear god) that it will be better than this one. This one sucked I think. Anyway, my friend WINGLESS FALLEN ANGEL has helped me on this a bit so the rest of this thing will be advertisement. "If you wanna read yaoi fanfiction of naruto characters then head over to Wingless Fallen Angel's page now!"

Yeah, now that's done. I'm gonna go to my corner and be emo....


	5. The Locked Trepidations

5th chapter....Writing by ear is hard.... xDDD

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Jing walked along the field until the green field is nothing more than a dried and dead landscape. "Hey, Jing...Why is everything all dead and stuff?" Kir asked, curious about the dead plantation.

"Because we have arrived at the city of Fear." He replied. Kir looked up to see themselves at a rusty grey gate that was barely holding its own weight. He noticed Mina sitting at the corner of one gate, sleeping. "Well, we did travel by daytime." Jing said, looking at the now diamond sky. Kir jumped off Jing's shoulder and flew over to the sleeping girl.

"Look at her, Jing? Isn't she radiant? Even in the moonlight, her skin just glows! That is the sign of my sleeping beauty, I tell you Jing, and I'm not going to find any other girls like this one! We are meant to be for each other!" He ranted, holding onto one of her pale hands. Kir gently rubbed his feather against her skin. "She's so soft too! Like a satin doll that's come to life." He giggled with glee.

"Shut up, Kir. You're starting to sound like a school girl with a crush." Jing insulted. Mina began to groan as her brown eyes began to open. She yawned and stretched her body with another satisfying crack. She sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"When are the boys gonna get here?" She muttered tiredly to herself. "I told them if they were even late for.....a....sec..." Mina slumped against the wall and resumed sleeping. Jing and Kir just stood there wondering what the hell just happened.

"Well, we're never going to find the treasure at this rate." Jing sighed. He went up and tapped Mina on the head. She flinched a little and rubbed her head, her eyes sleepily opening a bit. "If you're that tired, then climb onto my back." Jing said, turning around and lowering himself to her level. Mina rubbed her eyes and mumbled some gibberish and wrapped her arms around Jing's neck and climbed on. She quickly fell asleep as Jing hoisted her up to get a better grip around her. Soon, the three were making their way through the dark city. Dead trees littered the abandoned town. People in torn and dirty clothes wandered the streets. Large furry rats wandered the streets in search of their meal. Buildings were grey and crumbling and ran down.

"Jing, what is this place?" Kir asked, a little nervous. "It's giving me the creeps...."

"This is Formidine, the city of fear. These people who live here have nowhere else to go and you can assume there will be no business here." Kir shivered a little as they passed a coffin shop which seemed to be the only running store in town.

"What is this treasure anyway, Jing?" Jing stopped to pull Mina up again and took a deep breath.

"This treasure is known as the Locked Trepidations. It's Latin for 'strong fear'." Kir looked at Jing like he was crazy.

"Why are we after that thing?" He asked, curious.

"Because it will help us to understand the situation at hand." Jing said as he continued walking towards a cemetery. "Legend has it that a little dream was once dreamt by little children, that dream loved to see how the children's imagination would take that dream to different places. Soon, the kids grew up and no longer dreamt anything fun. The little dream was scared. That dream thought that it would disappear. 'I don't want to disappear. I want to live and continue seeing what these humans can create.' it thought. 'But how can I do that?' the little dream wondered. The little dream's smile began to widen as it finally thought of a solution. 'I'll just let the humans find me instead. I'll let them create their own world...' The dream decided. However, it did not go according to plan. People abused the dream's power to create chaos and confusion. As a result, the dream became twisted and cruel. To get revenge on those people who has cursed the dream with its darkness, he locked the darkness and evil desires in a box from their past memories and trapped them in that box. To suffer through your worst memories over and over again is the worst punishment anyone can think of, for they know it's real and they can't escape from it." Kir listened intently to what Jing told. The arms around Jing tightened as the girl's face buried itself into Jing's back. "You're awake?"

"Why are we here?" She whispered.

"I think you know why..." Jing responded. Her grip tightened even more but not enough to make Jing uncomfortable. They continued walking through the graveyard, avoiding the graves and the tombstones. "The dream knew it has created something terrible and wished to redeem itself yet it cannot reverse the damage. Instead, the dream locked itself in that box and hid itself away from the world until one person finds it." He stopped in front of a large iron tomb; cobwebs decorated the entryway as skeletons bones littered the floor. "And we have found the resting place of that dream." Mina whispered to Jing saying that she wants to get down. He let her down softly as her feet came in contact with the dusty cement floor. She clung onto Jing's arm as Kir flew first into the tomb.

"Nothing's in here, Jing!" Kir yelled. Jing brushed the spider webs side and made his way up to a dark wall with strange symbols. He ran his hand over the wall.

"Mina, you have anything in that bag of yours that has light?" He asked. Mina reluctantly released his arm and dug through her tan bag and found a flashlight. She handed it to him and immediately clung to his arm again. "Are you...scared?" he asked the shivering girl.

"N-n-no. I'm just....thought I might get lost....and so I'm holding onto you so that...I won't get lost." She stuttered. Jing laughed softly as he turned on the flashlight and shone it at the wall. Strange drawings littered the wall as he slowly tried to decipher them. Mina gazed at the weird picture as Kir landed on Jing's free shoulder. His fingers snapped together as he figured out that puzzle.

_The item you have searched for is hidden between life and death._

"Life and death? What does that mean?" Kir asked, puzzled. Mina released her grip on Jing's arm and headed over to an archway. She ran her ivory fingers over the indentations of the ancient pathway.

"This way," She said, grabbing Jing's hand and dragging both boy and bird through the doorway. She grabbed the flashlight from him and shone it against a wall. Again, Mina ran her hand against the wall. Without a warning she kicked the wall with force that a girl her size isn't meant to have. The wall came crumbling down to reveal a raised level in the ground with a glistening black box with silver lining upon it. "Found it," She smirked nervously to herself. Jing put the flashlight away for the room was lit by moonlight. He gestured to the box as Mina eyed him curiously.

"You found it, go open it." He said. Mina glared at him for a minute but that expression was replaced by a hint of fear. She carefully stepped forward and knelt on her knees. She carefully opened the box with ease. Black smog drifted from the box wrapping itself around the girl.

"What's going on?!" She screamed. Soon, her words were blurred out and she fell to the ground, motionless.

"Jing! What happened to her?!" Kir cried out, flying to her side.

"Don't worry, Kir. She's just sleeping." He said, noticing the breathing movements her chest made.

"Then what was the point of this treasure? Is she gonna start reliving her worst memories as a child now?" The bird asked, worried.

"No, Kir. She's just asleep. A dreamless sleep," Jing said, "When the dream locked itself in the box, its power changed and it can only create the illusion of sleep. That's what happened to Mina. We are the ones that are going to explore her dark memories." He said, holding his arm out as Kir perched upon it. Jing carefully put his hand inside the box as both of them were pulled into a grey hazy cloud. They started falling at high speed as nothing but grey clouds passed them by.

"Jing!" Kir groaned as the speed increased.

"Don't worry, Kir. You have nothing to worry about." He smirked as their decent began to slow. Jing carefully landed on his feet in the middle of a grey wasteland in front of a quaint little cottage. "You see, Kir? This journey is only beginning for us...."

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This chapter is a bit short but I wanted the next part to have it's only chapter. Tee Hee, so you can call this another cliffhanger. Thanks for suffering throughout this story so far! I'ma go work on the next chapter now.....

Wow, this is shorter than I expected.....O.o.....


	6. Her Hidden Childhood

6th chapter. Lmao. Anyway, yeah. So I'ma....write now... (omfg, so lame. xD)

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Jing found himself in front a tidy little cottage. Kir landed on Jing's shoulder as they gazed around. The grey color began to fade away into light soft colors. The grass was green as in cottage gave off a soft brick red shade with a white picket fence surrounding the house. A little child with the looks of a 2-year-old in a light blue and white dress was running unsteadily around the front yard as a woman was trying to catch her.

"Whoa, there little girl. Your gonna fall and get hurt!" Kir said, flying off Jing's shoulder and landing near the girl. The girl stepped on his tail feather as she ran past him. "OUCH!" He screamed out.

"They can't hear or see you, Kir." Jing told him.

"But they can hurt us?! How does that make any sense?!" He yelled back at Jing, caressing his feathers in his wings.

"We're like....physical ghosts." Kir still looked confused. "It's complicated." He sighed. He followed the stumbling girl into the house. Everything was decorated as if the house was pulled out of a faerie tale. A little table filled with little figurines of dancing ballerinas around a picture of that woman he saw before and that little child. The man's face was cut out leaving a body with an empty square for a head.

"Minahime," The woman coaxed as she picked the child up and hugged her. "You've grown so big! I'm so proud of you!" The child giggled, her eyes shining brightly.

"That's Mina?" Kir asked, blushing a little. "She was adorable as a little girl!" He squealed. Jing's face betrayed no emotions. The woman put her daughter down as she smiled warmly at the young child.

"Mama, when can I get my present?" Young Mina asked her mother. She waved her finger at her daughter.

"Soon, my child." Her face fell when she saw a shadow near the backroom door. "Uhhh, Mina, honey, go outside and pick some flowers for mommy. Okay?" Mina jumped up and down excitedly and ran outside to the front door. Kir beamed at the girl and tried to follow her as the whole room started to fade away.

"Uhhh, Jing?" Kir asked. Jing shushed him. The whole room melted away morphing into a beautiful front year filled with colorful flowers with different scents. "If were ghosts, how can we smell that delicious aroma coming from the flowers?" Kir asked.

"Again, Kir. It's complicated." Jing responded indifferently, his eyes focused on the house. Little Mina was giggling as she yanked up a yellow daisy by its roots and proceeded to pick up a white one. She began to smell smoke from the house and her eyes drifted to the smokey air wafting from her house. With a large explosion, Mina was thrown from her yard out into the street as the fire started to consume what was left of her childhood.

"Mama?" She cried out, worried. "Mama?!" The neighbors ran out of their houses to see the building on fire and quickly called the local fire team to put it out. Some went to the little girl to try and comfort her. "No! Let me go!" She screamed and kicked for the strangers to release her. "My Mama's in there!" Tears streaked down her face. "No! I'm not leaving Mama! Mama! Don't let them take me! Mama! Mama!" She cried. The people standing nearby started crying at the scene, heart-broken as the girl desperately try to get to her mother. "MAMA!"

The scene quickly disappeared and was replaced with an empty grey room. Mina hid in a corner of the room in a fetal position. The light in her eyes were beginning to fade. Kir sniffled a little at her horrible childhood, secretly hoping it would get better. Jing looked at Mina's past self. Her skin was paler than what a normal person should have. Her brown hair was all stringy and in clumps as it hung limply over her face. Dark purple circles surrounded her under eyes. She was too skinny for her own good. The door was suddenly kicked opened startling both Jing and Kir. A man walked in with a dark eyes and a serious face. He carried a food tray with barley any food on it and tossed it on the floor. Mina didn't look up; she continued to stare at the wall. "There's ya meal, girlie. Eat up cause you ain't gonna get anymore. Be happy cause your gonna be the new pretty of another young family." He spat at her with broken English. "Only 4 years old and your already as pathetic as that mother of yours, huh?" Mina's eyes turned sharp as she glared at the man. Her eyes boring themselves into his skin. "That's right, I said it. You mother just left you on the street, that's what I heard. Good for nothing, if you ask me." Mina was on her feet at once, grabbing the fork from the tray holding it firm in her hand.

"You...have...no right to talk about my mother that way." She growled demonically. "She died in a fire, she did not leave me." She told him. "She died in a fire, she did not leave me." She repeated.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," He spat, turning for the door. She threw the fork with such force that it impaled the wall just inched from the man's head. "That's how your gonna play, are you? Do you want to be locked in the closet again?" He threatened.

"I don't think you're in any position to give me orders." She threatened back, her voice like acid. The door slowly opened as Mina flinched back into reality, she started crying as the man stood their dumbfounded.

"Are you torturing the poor girl again?" A woman asked the man. "Lucky for her that her new family has come to pick up their new daughter today." He glared at the girl as the young woman grabbed her hand and jerked her up. That scene was also blown away to dust as another scene soon faded into view. It was a dark room lit only by fireplace. A cozy library with a lady in a grand dress sitting by the fire on one side while a man in a suit sits on the other side smoking a pipe; they both gazed up as young girl in a black and white frilly dress entered the room. She had a bow pinned in her smoothed brown hair. Her face betrayed no emotion, her eyes blank and empty. She was the most beautiful doll.

"You do understand that we have adopted you as our child now, do not get your hopes up thinking that will change your status." The lady sneered at her.

"We merely need a lady in the family, so we would appreciate if you just did what any normal girl your age would do. Don't talk, stay out of the way of adult, and never ever interfere with our business, Understood?" The man spoke to her with iciness in his voice.

"You are nothing, merely a toy within our possession, Understand?" The lady asked. The girl did not respond. The woman stood up from her seat and walked up to the child. She slapped her right across the face, sending her to her knees. "I expect you to answer me when I'm speaking to you, understand Minahime?" Kir gasped as the lady spoke of her name. His eyes glowed with anger for the poor girl. Jing's jaw tightened but did nothing.

"Yes Ma'am." She spoke meekly. Her eyes watering up from the impact.

"Good child. Remember to speak when you are spoken too." Her adoptive mother told her. "You are nothing, you are nothing. We have brought you from nothing but you are still a no one. Understand?" She laughed at her own little rant.

"I understand..." Mina responded indifferently. Her foster mother grabbed her by her arm and jerked her up violently. Mina shivered a little by the sudden harshness but steadied herself.

"Your life is meaningless. Remember that. If you were to die, no one would care." The man reminded the shivering child.

"I understand."

"That is why we have taken you under our wing. You are nothing more than a prop to make us look good. If you so much as step one foot out of line, we will dispose of you."

"I understand."

"Good, and just remember. You can be replaced with another child you might be better behaved than you."

"I understand...."

"So you will do whatever we say, for we are all you have left...."

"I.....understand."

The bitter conversation continued for what seemed like forever. Kir and Jing stood there grimacing at each insult those demons came up with. Kir's expression became hard, Jing's grew angry. "So that's what you understand..." he whispered to himself. The lady released her grip from Mina's arm and sent her away. As Mina walked outside, she bumped into one of the servants working in the castle and fell on her bottom.

"Are you quite alright, young miss?" the man asked her. Mina rubbed her sore rear and looked up to see a gentle looking butler. His jet black hair brushed neatly down and his suit pressed and crisp. He extended a white gloved hand to her. She slapped it away as she got up on her own.

"Yes sir, I'm fine." She responded bitterly. The butler laughed softly. "Why are you laughing?"

"It's because such a fragile thing like yourself can be so strong-willed." He fixed the box on her hair as Mina blushed at the compliment. She looked at the ground as he fixed her up. "My name is Cynric, what is your name?"

"I'm Mina, pleasure to meet you." She told him, curtsying. Cynric gave her a low bow.

"Are you the Mistress's and the Lord's new daughter?"

"Yes sir," He laughed at her politeness. "You don't have to be so courteous with me." She gave a sigh of relief and slumped over a bit. He snickered some more. "Wow, what a quick change." He gestured down towards the hall and offered to walk her to her room. Mina accepted the gestured and smiled warmly at her new friend. "How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I am 4 years old." She replied.

"4?!" He exclaimed, shocked. Mina looked at him curiously. "My apologies, Madam. I didn't think you were so....young." Now it was Mina's turn to giggle.

"Yes, and you don't have to be so formal with me, sir." She laughed softly, her voice like a soft drifting breeze.

"You are quite mature for your age, and by that I mean your vocabulary is....outstanding." Cynric guffawed at that fact. She smiled innocently.

"I have to be, my mother died when I was younger when I barely learned to walk. I was then sent to the orphanage and I had to depend on myself for the service over there was horrible!" She laughed at her misfortune. "Then I was adopted here...." Her eyes fell for a second before she shook her head vigorously and smiled at Cynric. "It's not such a bad place! The food's good, I get to sleep in a warm and comfy bed, anything's better than the orphanage!" Cynric stopped walking as he stared at the young child. Mina noticed that her friend wasn't walking beside her and turned around. "What are you waiting for?" She smiled at him. He knelt down and pulled Mina into an embrace.

"Poor girl, you suffered so much and you haven't even begun to live your life yet." He told her softly, hugging her tightly. Kir and Jing watched from afar, Kir grimaced a little from the sight.

"Jing, isn't there a fast forward button on this thing? I don't want to see my girl get hugged by some old coot." He complained. Jing pulled some tape from his jacket and proceeded to tape the bird's beak shut. Kir was annoyed but knew it was for his own good and landed on Jing's shoulder and proceeded to watch.

"It's not that bad...." She lied, tears starting to sting her eyes.

"You have a strong will. I like that about you." He said, releasing her. "I'll let you in on a little secret." His eyes we're dancing with a hint of excitement. "I'm actually a thief, I'm working here to gain a little bit of knowledge about this place and I plan to steal their most prized possession. The ivory china doll." Mina looked confused.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked, puzzled.

"I want to make you my apprentice." He smirked. Mina was still puzzled. "You'll get to learn my tricks and skills and learn how to be a thief yourself." Mina's face brightened to that idea and nodded vigorously that she made herself dizzy. She had to hold onto Cynric's shoulder to support. He laughed at the child's enthusiasm and picked her up and carried her to her room. Once inside, she quickly got changed behind a screen, Jing having to hold Kir back while she undressed, and she was tucked in by her new master.

"Will I learn everything you know?" She asked.

"Everything," He replied with a warm smile.

"And I will be a great thief like you?"

"With your will, maybe even better."

"I don't want to be better. I want to be the best there is!" She exclaimed, sitting up in her bed. "I want to be the very best that no one can beat me!" Cynric laughed and slowly pushed the girl back down and pulled the covers over her.

"In due time, I've heard some rumors saying that there's a King of Bandits and that he's the best thief ever, so great that he can steal the stars from the sky." He told her. Mina's eyes glittered and Jing smiled warmly at the mention of his title.

"I bet you he's not that great!" She pouted. "If he's gonna be the King then.....I wanna be the queen! I'm going to be the Queen of Thieves!"

"Shouldn't it be Bandits?" He asked, "Since the King and Queen should have the same title, well same sorta."

"No!" Mina stuck out her tongue. "The King of Bandits is his title. I am a strong girl! I will grow up to be the Queen of Thieves. That title will be my own! No copying!"

"Okay, okay!" Cynric tried to calm her down. Mina's eyes began to slowly close, as she was beginning to give into her tiredness.

"Cynric?"

"Yes, Mina?"

"Promise me one thing, Okay?"

"And that would be?"

"Promise that you'll stay my friend, you'll stay by my side and never let me be lonely." She yawned, her eyes closing, "Promise me..." She whispered.

"I promise, Mina." She sleepily grabbed for his pinky and wrapped it around her own tiny hand.

"Pinky promise...." She whispered her last words before drifting away by the capture of sleep. Cynric kissed her on her forehead and brushed her hair aside. He slowly stepped away from the bed and blew out the candle and closed the door.

"Sweet dreams, Minahime. Tomorrow we shall begin your training." he whispered as he closed the door. Everything faded to black, leaving Jing and Kir alone in the darkness. There was a bright and sudden flash causing Kir and Jing to shield their eyes from the glare. The flare died down and suddenly glimpses of Mina's training appear. Doing push-ups, pull-ups, practicing balancing on a thin block of wood with burning coals surrounding her, bending her body to make it flexible, practicing with a variety of weapons, pushing her over her limit; all that happened within the next 4 years. During that time, Mina grew into a beautiful 8 year old. Cynric has kept his promise, every time the Lady and the Lord did something that would send Mina into a fit of rage, he was there to listen to her problems; and then everything changed. The scene shifted into a macabre one. Mina stood in the dining room, her eyes filled with shocked and anger. The other side of the room was the Lady of the house holding a butcher knife violently stabbing at her best friend. The Lord was laughing as tears streamed down Mina's little eyes.

"This is what you get for being friends with a thief, Mina." He spat at her. "He tried to steal our precious treasure and we knew about it for awhile, but when we saw you hanging around him we knew we had to protect our daughter from this menace." The Lady laughed bitterly. She swung the knife down chopping off Cynric's arm. Jing and Kir was sickened by the scene, almost vomiting at the gore that took place. Mina slumped forward, falling to the ground on her knees. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at the couple bitterly.

"We did this all for you, Mina, sweetie." The Lady said sweetly sickishly. That did it, she snapped. Mina was on her feet right away running towards the murderers. The Lady saw her running and swung the knife at the little girl. She dodged it with ease and kicked her in her stomach sending her flying towards the wall. Mina turned around and grabbed the arm of the Lord and twisted it behind his back. Frightened, he fell to his knees sweating. He turned his head around to see her face only to see her eyes filled with complete anger.

"Don't you dare say this is for me, you sick dog." She said in a low demonic voice. "This was all for your pleasure. Hurting innocent people is what you do, right?" She asked, twisting his arm further. A painful scream came from his mouth. His wife watched from the wall, frightened by what the child had become. "Why don't you admit it? You like having the thrill of watching others suffer, don't you?" A smirk played at her mouth. She twisted his arm a little more until she heard a loud pop sound. His arm lay motionless in her hand. "Oops, I seem to have popped your arm out of its socket." She laughed bitterly. She swung the arm over her small body sending the man flying straight into the wall next to his wife. Mina looked up at the Lady. The wife, frightened, picked up the butcher knife to protect herself with.

"You can do this! We brought you back from nothing!" She screamed at the little girl. Mina knelt over Cynric's chopped body, a tear escaping from her eyes. She saw something glinting in the light of the fireplace. To Jing's surprise, it was a silver pocket watch. She opened the timekeeper up and saw something engraved in its covering.

_To: Mina From: Cynric  
"Be the best a thief can be, Queen of Thieves."_

The last message Cynric wrote for her, he was going to give her this watch. She started crying and buried her face on Cynric's lifeless body. "Don't leave me, Cynric. You promised." She cried. Creeping slowly behind her was the Lady, preparing to strike. Mina felt her presence and quickly turned and swiped at her feet, sending her falling to the floor. Mina caught the knife mid-fall and held it towards the wife's neck. "You took away everything from me." Mina yelled at her. The husband struggled to stand up from where he was and watched in horror, closing his eyes hoping he wouldn't see the death of the woman he loved.

"That's not true! We gave you everything. We brought you from nothing! We gave you a life!" She screamed back. Mina smirked.

"Remember? I'm nothing. My life is meaningless. I can be easily replaced as a doll in a toy store." She spat. "So let me return the favor for your......generosity." She smirked. She threw the knife down on the ground, missing her head by an inch. The wife fainted from fright as the husband opened his eyes. "I spared your wife's life and I shall spare yours." She told him. "But that doesn't mean I won't kill you." She added darkly. She looked down at herself and saw her clothes were covered in Cynric's blood. She laughed at the sight and knelt down at her dead friend's body. She kissed him on the cheek gently. "Watch over me." She asked him before running out of the room. She locked the doors tightly and jammed it with a candle stick pole so that it can't be opened from either side. Just for safe measure, she also slid a cabinet in front of the door. She took a step back and breathed at her new found skill. Quickly, she headed to her room and changed into a black long sleeved t-shirt and khakis; she quickly slipped off the laced shoes around her ankles and slipped on black rubber slippers. She tied her hair up with a grey ribbon and quickly washed her face in the provided washbowl that was already in her room. She sighed and took a long gaze at her new self in the mirror.

"Somebody help us!" She heard the lord cry from the dining room. She scoffed. _I don't have much time..._ She thought at she ran from her bedroom out into the red carpeted hallway. She quickly turned into the couple's bedroom and looked around. _If I was something valuable, where would I be?_ She wondered. She wandered over to a painting of some weird fruit. Mina's grabbed it frame and tossed it on the ground revealing a hidden safe. _A safe behind a painting. How original...._ Mina proceeded to place her ear against the cold steel and fiddled with lock. "Let's try this..." She whispered to herself. "The Madam's birthday..." _Click! _"The Duke's record in the hunt..." _Click! _"Their wedding anniversary..." _Click!_ The safe started opening slowly as Mina jumped back and sighed a breath of relief at her work. "Now if only men can remember anniversaries." She giggled at her joke. The safe opened fully and revealed the prized Ivory China Doll. She shivered a little. "I never was a big fan of dolls." She snickered at herself. She quickly grabbed her prize and ran from the room, accidently knocking over a candle with her. The flame landed on the ground and began to spread throughout the house. "Uh-oh..." Mina saw the fire spreading and remembered the locked Dining room door. "Well, serves them right. They don't deserve any sympathy...." She told herself but somehow couldn't bring herself to let them die. Mina ran as fast as Cynric trained her to the dining room and kicked the cabinet aside and knocked the door down. The Lord and the Lady were both in the corner of the room crying their eyes out.

"YOU!" The Lord screamed, "AREN'T YOU SATIFIED WITH TOTURING US?! MUST YOU DO MORE DAMAGE?!" She quickly knocked them out with a nearby Dictionary and watched them fall to the floor out cold.

"And people said words can't hurt people..." She laughed. She quickly dragged the two unconscious bodies from the burning house with some difficulty. "These people need to lose weight, seriously." She dropped them a safe distance from the burning mansion and tossed a pile of money next to them. "I'm too nice...." She sighed. The image of Cynric's torn body appeared in her mind as she shook it away, she forced the smiling Cynric image into her mind. Mina sighed as she looked towards the sky. The sun was rising. "Even though you're not here, the sun still rises..." She whispered. Mina then pulled out the pocket watch from her pocket and looked at it. "I will strive to be a good thief. I shall be known as the Queen of Thieves." She promised to herself. "Watch over me, Cynric! I'll make you proud!" That long scene faded away along with the disappearing night and left the Thief and his bird in the darkness.

"I didn't know Mina suffered so much as a child." Kir said, after ripping off the tape around his beak.

"Now we know where her quick temper and why she yelled at me when I thought I was the better thief...." Jing admitted.

"But it still doesn't explain her reaction in Mioria." Kir reminded.

"I have a feeling this trip isn't over yet." Jing said, looking at the changing atmosphere. "This is far from over...."

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Omfg....Too long. Okies. You might be a little confused by this. I'll explain. Jing and Kir are just standing in one place and everything around them is changing. It's like standing in a movie theater that has a 360 screen around you so you can see everything. In this case, they can feel if something's done to them, Like Kir's tail being stepped on, but they can't touch or been seen or be heard by anything or anyone else in the memory. As Jing said, it's complicated. Why was Mina so mature at the age of 4, you might be wondering. Well, her mom died and was killed by a fire (Which may or may not have something to do with that mysterious figure the mom saw) and she was sent to an orphanage where people where like jerks to her. She needed to survive for herself so she basically self advanced. At the age of four, her maturity was already at the age of like.....10. Why her mood changes at different rates? well, she did promise to be the best and stuff. So yeah, Why she acted so weird in Mioria will be explained in the next chapter. Why was she laughing at herself when she brought up something painful? She doesn't want to be a burden to others so she underplays it and pents it all up until KABOOM! She snaps. Luckily, she knows how to keep her head. Anyway, I decided to split this chapter into two since I'm already up to 4000 words in this one and my fingers are getting tired. If you have any questions just ask me and I'll be happy to clear them up. Thank for reading! I'm gonna go work on the next chapter now.....


	7. Unforgotten Friend

Chapter 7, okies. Just a little heads up. I might not update as fast as I use to because school's almost starting, I need to get ready for it. I'm banned from the computer so I can only go on at certain times to type. So yeah, enjoy! Oh and Jing's current age is going to be 17 and Mina's is going to be 16. Since I have no idea what Jing's age is, I'm winging it. :D

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The memory started slowing down to reveal Mina standing atop a roof. 5 years have passed and her appearance changed drastically. Her hair grew longer and was tied up into a ponytail that she currently wore. She wore a tight-fitting tan vest with tan shorts and a black bag around her waist. To complete her rouge-ish appearance, she wore a long, dark, brown cloak. Immediately Kir's eyes turned into hearts as he gazed upon the 13 year old girl. Jing smacked him in the back of the head, secret he was amazed by how much she changed in just those 5 years. Mina brushed back a stray hair from her head and leapt from roof to roof trying to make her way through the little town called, "Saidia". She accidently landed on a leaf and slipped the roof landing with a loud "THUD" on the ground. "This looks to familiar..." Kir mentioned out loud.

"Ouch," Mina winced as she tossed the cloak off her. People looked at her and just minded their own business. "People here aren't nice....or they've seen this before." She muttered to herself. Mina struggled to stand up but fell down; she glanced at her leg to see a huge gash on her calf. She looked around to see a big rock lodged in her leg. She grabbed it and yanked it out, gritting her teeth to endure the pain. She tossed the rock aside and looked at her poor leg. The blood started flowing down and the cut was all covered in dirt and debris. "Lord, why me?" She whimpered softly to herself.

"Are you okay, young lady?" A female voice asked her. Mina looked up to see a girl about the same age as Mina staring at her. She wore a traditional common girl dress with her black hair pulled back in braids. "Oh dear!' She gasped, looking at her injury. Quickly, the girl knelt down and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and started dabbing the wound with it.

"Ugh, girl. That's not going to work. It's a _big _cut and a _little _piece of cloth isn't gonna soak up all that blood." Mina sighed. The girl looked at her for a second before realizing she spoke the truth.

"Oops! My bad!" She laughed at herself. "Uhhh, here...Let me help you up. If I can get you back to my house, I can fix that wound up for you."

"That would be a better idea." She agreed, the weird girl helped her up as Mina and the girl strutted over to her house. As soon as the doors opened, Mina collapsed into a wooden chair. She winced from enduring the pain.

"This might sting a little." The girl spoke as she poured a liquid over Mina's leg. The watery thing burned her leg beyond belief. Mina gripped the chair with all her strength and closed her eyes, enduring the pain. "Your pretty strong, even adult would scream at when alcohol's poured on the wound. Anyway, your wound looks pretty clean now. I just need to bandage it up and it should be healed within two weeks." The girl stood up and went to put the bottle of alcohol away. "I'm Charlotte, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Mina." She replied. "Nice to meet you too."

"Here we go," Charlotte said, wrapping some gauze over Mina's leg. "So what brings in you into our little town?"

"I'm just passing by, I need to get to another town quick but I guess I'll just have to postpone my trip now." She laughed at her misfortune. "Thanks for the help, uh....I guess I have to pay you back somehow..." Mina quickly straightened herself up and rummaged through her black bag. "Here..." She grabbed Charlotte's hand and quickly placed a few gold coins in her palm.

"This is...." Charlotte gasped at the amount.

"Just to help pay with medicinal fees and food pay and stuff..." Mina shrugged. "The usual since I have no where to stay and your basically my first friend here."

"Are you a thief?" She asked Mina suddenly.

"What?!" Charlotte held out the gold coins.

"Are you a thief? I'm not accusing you but I'm not going to turn you in if you are." Charlotte told her. Mina eyed her suspiciously.

"You better not tell," Mina threatened, Charlotte didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, I'm a thief."

"That is so cool!" Charlotte squealed. Mina looked at the girl shocked. "You're one of the rare good thieves!"

"Good thieves?" Mina repeated as if it was a foreign word to her.

"Yeah, you steal but you give it to the needy." Charlotte pounced on Mina and hugged her tightly.

"Yeah, Char. I...can't...breathe...Leg....hurting...I see a light." Mina gasped for unattainable air. Charlotte gasped and jumped back, blushing at her eagerness. Mina took several deep breaths and glared at Charlotte.

"My bad," Charlotte giggled. "So are you a normal street thief or one of the daring 'steals from the rich' thieves?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Have you ever heard of the Queen of Thieves?" Mina asked.

"You mean the wife of the King of Bandits?! The person who can steal the stars from the sky? No wait, that's the Bandit. The Queen steals from the gods! Wait, You're her?!" Charlotte gasped, covering her mouth with her dainty hands.

"Who the hell said that we're married?!" Mina exclaimed. "Yes, I am the queen but no, I am not married to the King of Bandits, whoever the hell he is." She grimaced, calming down a bit. Kir snickered at this and jabbed Jing with his elbow.

"Funny, huh Jing? Seems you and Mina were married long before you met." He joked.

"Shut up, bird." Jing quieted.

"Sorry, I heard rumors but I didn't expect the Queen to be this young..." Charlotte admitted.

"I'm basically the same age as you....I think. I'm just 13...Good grief." She sighed. "Anyway..."

"Do you really steal from the gods? Have you ever met the King of Bandits? Is he handsome? Are you a better thief than he is?" Mina quickly grabbed Charlotte's sleeve and pulled her down, covering her mouth with her free hand.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, no, I don't know, and yes. All in that order." She answered. "Now no more questions. You'll have plenty of time to get to know me while I heal up." She pleaded. "So please no more questions?" Charlotte nodded her head and pulled Mina's hand off her mouth.

"Just one more question," Mina sighed and nodded. "What would you like for dinner?" She giggled. Mina looked at her curiously before laughing.

"I think we're going to be great friends." She laughed. Kir yawned a little at the heart-warming scene before everything started skipping. It was day, then night, then Mina was at one place, then gone to another.

"Jing, what's going on?" Kir asked, worried they might have done something wrong. "Did we break the box or something?"

"Nope, it's just fast-forwarding to the important part now...." Jing told her feathered friend.

The next part of her memory stopped at where Mina and Charlotte was in a flower field, the aroma of lilies and orange blossoms filled the air as the gentle breeze floated through the air. "Mina?" Charlotte asked, staring at the sea of floral.

"Yeah?"

"When I die, I want to be surrounded by beautiful flowers like these." She said, brushing back a stray strand of hair. Mina looked at her curiously.

"What's with the suddenly horridness?" Mina asked.

"I don't know, I just felt like saying it....but what can be more peaceful? Just looking at these flowers gives you a sense of tremendous peace."

"True..."

"Where do you want to die at, Mina?"

"That's easy; I don't want to die at all. Not yet at least. I don't want to think about it right though. There's too much to live for." She responded, her thoughts drifting back to her mother's murder and Cynric's sacrifice. Mina nodded.

"I suppose your right..." Charlotte said, standing up. Mina stood up too, noticing her leg was feeling much better. "Your leg is almost healed up, I bet by tomorrow you will be able to jump off roofs again." She giggled. "Here..." Charlotte grabbed Mina's hand and placed a ruby ring in it. "It's mine and I want you to have it, so you will never forget me." She smiled serenely at the confused Mina. Mina lunged forward and hugged Charlotte.

"I will never forget you, even if I tried. You are my best friend and plus I don't think a person like you is forgettable." She laughed. Charlotte laughed with her as the two began to walk back into Saidia's safe town. The next day appeared with in a flash as Kir rubbed his head.

"These skipping thingies are getting me all confused." He complained.

"Basically, Mina hurt her leg, she met Charlotte, she became best friends with Charlotte, then this scene happens, and now I assume it's another day." Jing informed him. "Helpful?"

"Very," Kir said, turning back to the memory.

"Mina!" Charlotte exclaimed, bursting through the door with enthusiasm. Mina looked up from her book to see what all the yelling was about. Charlotte knocked Mina down to the ground and helped her sit up. "I found my true love!" She yelled, shaking Mina back and forth. "It's wonderful! I knew him for a while but now he asked me out! I can't believe it! I have the biggest crush on him and I knew we were meant to be! It's so wonderful! He's so wonderful!"

"If you keep shaking me, my head's going to fall off!" Mina struggled to talk as Charlotte kept shaking her. She quickly stopped and hugged the dizzy thief. "I want to be this 'true love' of yours. I never met one before so it would be a great way to introduce me into the 'world of love'." Mina joked.

"He's right outside!" Charlotte said excitedly. "I'll bring him in!" And with that she ran out of the room to fetch her love in. Mina slowly stood up and moved her leg. _Good thing it's healed. If it was still in bad shape when she tackled me, boy would that be trouble. _She laughed at herself. She dusted herself off as the door opened again. "Mina! This is him!" Charlotte grabbed the arm of a boy and pulled him in. He looked to be 16 years of age. His brown hair was all messy and his clothing was just a plain blue shirt with tan pants. Nothing really special, just a normal boy.

"It's nice to meet you, Mina. I heard a lot about you from Char here." He told her. "I'm Jelier." Mina bowed her head in respect but something inside her didn't like him. She stood back up and looked into his eyes. They seemed deceitful and not worth trusting, but seeing Charlotte's happy face, Mina knew she couldn't do anything about this.

"Errr, Charlotte, Say good-bye to your boyfriend. We need to prepare lunch, remember?" Mina said, trying to get rid of the boy.

"Silly Mina! I invited him for lunch!" Charlotte giggled, Mina cursed inside.

"Then ask him to make himself useful, ask him to go to the market and buy some fish, please." Mina said nicely.

"Okay then," Charlotte said. She turned to Jelier, "Can you please pick up some fish for me?" She asked, batting her eyelashes.

"Anything for you, babe." He said, "See ya, Mina." Jelier walked out the door and closed it as the girls walked into the kitchen to make lunch.

"I'm going to be blunt about this." Mina said quickly. "I don't like him, I don't trust him, and I don't want you to keep seeing him." Charlotte stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly to face her dear friend. Charlotte's eyes were shocked and sad.

"Why? I love him, he's my true love. Please don't be this way, Mina." She begged, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. Mina gulped and bit her tongue. "I loved him, I always loved him, and now you're trying to break us apart...."

"Please, Char...Listen-"

"Why should I?!" She snapped. "I love him and he loves me! We're meant to be!"

"Do you really feel this way about him?" Charlotte nodded. Mina sighed. "Then I suppose I just have to accept him then." Charlotte wiped away one of her tears and hugged Mina.

"Thank you, Mina." She said. Mina hugged back but she felt something inside her die. The same feeling when she gazed upon Cynric's corpse. She hugged Charlotte tighter, like if she were to let go, Charlotte would disappear.

"Just....be careful, okay?" She asked. "I don't want to lose you..."

"You've been here for 3 weeks and you've gotten so clingy." Charlotte joked, trying to break the tension. Mina laughed.

"Your fault for being such a good friend. If I lived on my own, I'd probably starve!" The two girls laughed and began to walk into the kitchen before the scene froze. Kir and Jing looked around curiously.

"Uhhh, Jing. What just happened?" Kir asked.

"I think it's skipping to the next scene..." Jing said. With that, the scene resumed but this time Mina was walking towards Charlotte's house with a basket full of vegetables in one arm. The wound on her leg was gone and healed perfectly leaving no scar behind. "I think it's been a couple weeks..." Jing said aloud. "Look at that calendar over there." He pointed to a nearby calendar vendor.

"Wow, that's convenient." Kir mocked. They both turned their sights back at Mina; she started to open the door.

"Yo, Char! I'm back. I got your veggies for your-" She stopped when she saw Charlotte on the ground. She was blue and motionless. Mina dropped the basket, the vegetables scattering all over the floor as she rushed to Charlotte's side. "Char, Char! Answer me!" She panicked. Charlotte was cold. "No! This can't be happening! Not again!" Mina cried out. She heard a sound coming from the bedroom and quickly pulled out her dagger and headed towards the room. Mina found Jelier going through Charlotte's jewelry box and stuffing everything in his greedy little pockets. "You!" She yelled. Jelier jumped at her voice as Mina punched him in the face. He fell to the floor as Mina pinned him down to the ground, the knife at his throat. "What did you do to Charlotte?" She growled.

"Nothing!" He lied.

"I can end your life right now, tell me the truth! What did you do to Charlotte?!" She spat. He looked at her with fear before breaking out into a hysterical laughter. His eyes turned cold.

"You really wanna know? I choked her. She was all talking and talking and wouldn't shut up! I knew she had something valuable in this house and I wanted it." Jelier said, his voice cold. Mina gripped his shirt tighter. "I don't care if you kill me or not, I know you won't. Wanna know why? You don't have the guts." Mina lifted the dagger up.

"Wanna bet?" She dared. "You killed my best friend, all for something stupid as treasure."

"Still haven't found it too." He laughed, "What a waste."

"She loved you!"

"I know, that's why I killed her. I'm her true love, I can do whatever I want to her and she will still be at my knees begging me to stay." Mina's shocked eyes focus directly on the piece of scum she pinned down beneath her.

"You are going to get what you deserve." She said darkly and she drove the knife down. A thud landed and everything was quiet. Jing and Kir stood silently on the side looking on. The knife was just inches away from his head. Jelier laughed nervously then fainted from shock. "Crazy man," she spat as got up. She pulled the dagger from the floor and placed it back on the dresser. Mina walked silently outside to the living room where her friend lies. "Oh Charlotte..." She whispered as she fell to her knees. "I told you to be careful...." Mina hugged Charlotte one last time and tightly squeezed her. "I just wish you didn't have to suffer like this...I knew killing him wouldn't do any good...I just hope you relax with me turning him over to the cops." She looked at Charlotte's pale face, she seemed to be smiling. Mina smiled at her angelic face, wiping a tear from her eyes. "I hope you watch over me too, my friend."

Later, Mina turned over Jelier to the local cops and he got sentenced to jail for life for murder and thievery. She also had Charlotte's body cremated and now stood in the sea of flowers with the urn of ashes in her arms. Slowly, she reached into the jar and pulled out a handful of ash and sprinkled it around the field. "You got your wish, Charlotte. You shall now be forever with the flowers." She poured the rest of the ashes out of the urn as it blew away in the wind. Jing looked at Mina's happy face as she tossed the urn aside. _How can you still have the strength to smile like that? _He wondered. "Watch over me, Charlotte!" She yelled into the wind. "I know you are in a better place now! Say hi to Cynric and my mother up there!" Her voice was drowned out by the winds and the scenery began to fade to black. A soft voice responded to her that was faint to the human ear, Jing caught word of it. _Thank you, Mina...For everything..._ Jing smiled as the memory faded.

"Hey, Jing," Kir said. "Is it over?" Jing looked at the fading sky.

"Yup, looks like we'll be waking up soon."

"Wait, we're waking up? Shouldn't it be Mina who's waking up?" Jing shook his head.

"We're also asleep, our physical self is asleep but our mental self is in her memories." Kir rubbed his head.

"Confusing..." He complained. Jing snickered softly.

"When she wakes up, I don't want you to mention any of this to her, okay?" Kir nodded. Jing looked at his hand, it was fading away. He snickered softly to himself. "After all, this game of ours....isn't over yet."

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Okie dokie, now chapter seven is done. A bit shorter than the last one but I think it explains it very well. Again, if you have any questions ask me! Why did Jelier kill Charlotte? Charlotte was energetic and full of life and Jelier just wanted the jewels and items she had. Basically, he was a player only dating her for her cash. So yeah....I'm gonna write chapter 8 now...I think this story is coming to an end soon. Maybe, or maybe not.


	8. Confrontation

8th chapter....Lmao. I never wrote this much since my last fanfiction. The Digimon one. Anyway, onwards we go.

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Mina slowly woke up to find herself riding on a train with Kir, who is sleeping, and Jing, who was staring outside the window at the diamond sky. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Planning to steal more stars?" she laughed sleepily. Jing glanced at her with curiosity. "What? I have something in my teeth?"

"Nothing," He said, putting his hand against her face. Mina glared at him. He didn't move his hand.

"You keep touching me with that arm, you're gonna lose it." She threatened. Jing smirked at her little threat but retreated anything. "Why...isn't Kir sleeping? Is he...dead?" She asked, looking over Jing's shoulder.

"No, he's awake. If you sit him up right, he won't snore." Mina felt like she was hit with an obvious answer. She smacked Jing in the back of the head.

"You didn't tell me this before?!" Jing flinched at the attack. It didn't hurt; it just got him off guard. Mina glared at him some more.

"If you keep looking at me like that, your face is going to freeze up and stay like that forever. In other words, pre-mature wrinkles." He joked. Mina turned red slightly and quickly looked to the side. "That reminds me...How old are you?" Mina looked up at Jing, shocked at the question. Her face was redder than before. "What did I say?" He asked, confused.

"Surprisingly rude..." She said, turning her back towards him.

"What?" He asked with an innocent face. They sat in silence for what seemed to be forever. Jing stared out the window again and Mina just stared at the floor. Sometimes she would glance up at Jing but they never said a word.

"Jing," She asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Jing glanced at her. "What happened in Formidine?" Jing said nothing and continued looking at the sky. "Answer me, Jing...."

"You opened that box and we all fell asleep..." He said.

"That's putting it bluntly...." She looked disappointed.

"Then I woke up first then I carried you and Kir over to the train and here we are now..." Jing just continued looking at the sky as if he was thinking about something.

"Very vague. More detail please." Mina said. Jing didn't say anything else. "I'll get that information out of you soon enough..." She started plotting. She put her finger to her lip and looked at him, deep in thought.

"You're scaring me..." Jing told her.

"Sure, I am." She said, waving her hand in front of her face dissipating the matter. The train jerked to a stop as everything slowly turned cold. Jing noticed this when he saw his breath. He glanced out the window again to see everything snowing. Mina leaned out the window in amazement. "Wow!" She breathed in the cold air as if this was all new to her. "It's snowing!" She gasped. She held out her hand to catch the floating white puffs. She laughed cutely as it melted in her hand. Jing blushed a little bit as he watched her try to catch snowflakes on her tongue. The train jerked again throwing Mina off-balance. She lost her grip and started to fall out of the window. Jing quickly grabbed her waist and pulled her back in before she hurt herself. He lost his footing and fell back into the seat, Mina falling on top of him. "Ouch..." She complained. She quickly gasped and sat up, realizing she was on Jing. Mina helped him sit upright and brush the dust off him. "I'm sorry..." She apologized, looking at the space between them. "I didn't mean to-" Jing suddenly pulled Mina into a hug, holding her tightly. "Jing?" She gasped, blushing intensely.

"Don't scare me like that," He told her quietly. Mina's blush even more. "Be more careful next time, okay?" He quickly let go off her and turned away. Mina sat there, still blushing at him. _He cares for me..._ Mina shook her head vigorously.

"Uh, I'll try." She said, trying to lighten the mood. "You know me, I'm such a klutz!"

"Pretending is more like it..." he muttered under his breath. Jing didn't hear any witty remark from her so he looked back only to find Mina biting her lip looking sadly at the ground. "I didn't mean it." He said quickly trying to consol her. Mina looked up, her eyes watery and big. "Not the puppy dog eyes..." He groaned. "Come on! I didn't even mean it! You shouldn't take things this seriously!"

"Have you ever even met a girl?" She yelled at him. "I have my reasons for being the way I am." She flopped back into her seat and sighed. "Change the subject..." Jing looked at her shocked and cleared his throat.

"Where did you get that pocket watch from?" He asked. Mina bit her lip again.

"I...uh...." Mina put her finger to her temple. "It was a treasure, the treasure of Lost Time." She pulled out the silver pocket watch and held it in her left palm.

"Tell me about this....Treasure of Lost Time..." he asked, with one eyebrow raised. He started to reach for the watch as she grasped it tightly and held it to her chest.

"Sure, no touching the watch. It's special to me." She said quickly. Jing laughed softly. "Let's see, the Treasure of Lost Time. There once was servant who served his princess with such loyalty that no one can compare. The princess was in love with another man but he rejected her for another girl. Anger and saddened, the servant went out and killed the other girl. This however brought a revolt. The servant and the princess looked enough like each other to pass as siblings. The servant, worried for his princess's safety put on her dress and he made her put on his suit and quickly tossed her out of the castle. The revolutionists were unaware of the switch and captured the servant and sentenced him to death by guillotine. The princess was nothing without him and cried over his death. That was when the servant dropped, errrr, his spirit dropped a silver pocket watch into the hands of the crying princess. As long as she had this watch, she would never feel alone. It would remind her of that time but to the rest of the world, it will be erased from their memory. Hence Treasure of Lost Time." During her story, the train stopped already at their destination. They stood outside as the snow started falling down. Jing laughed her story for a bit. _She has quite the imagination. _He thought. Kir was still sleeping so Mina carried him instead.

"Mmmm," he moaned. Kir unconsciously grabbed Mina's hand and rubbed it against his face. "Your hands are so soft, my little doll. You must be the fairest maiden in the land." Mina quickly handed Kir to Jing as he started waking up. "ACK!" He screeched as the first thing he saw was Jing's face.

"Have a nice dream, Kir?" He laughed.

"Shut up!" The bird yelled flying onto Jing's shoulder. "It was a good dream until I woke up. Anyone seeing that face in the morning would be scarred."

"I wouldn't say that." Mina said, shivering from the cold. Jing and Kir looked at her. "Oh! I mean...uhhh...I'll just shut up...." She quieted, blushing. _What the hell is going on with me?!_ She thought to herself. They started walking around town trying to see if they can find a warm place to rest for a while. The three decided to hang out at a bar called "The Tamoki" to rest up for awhile. Upon stepping foot into the bar, Kir saw 3 beautiful girls and his eyes turned into heart.

"Sorry, Jing. The girls are calling me. I'm just too irresistible." He snickered before flitting off to the girls' side. "Hey ladies, may I all buy you a drink?" Mina and Jing laughed and went over to the bar.

"What can I get ya kids?" the bartender asked.

"Two cups of hot chocolate, please." Jing ordered, flipping him a gold coin. The bartender caught it, bit it, and then started to pour out the drinks for the two. Mina grabbed the warm drink and gulped it down.

"Yummy, nothing warms you up like a bottle of Gin or hot chocolate!" She gasped, pleased. Jing sipped his drink slowly, scanning Mina. He noticed something weird.

"Hey, Mina. Where's that ruby ring of yours?" He asked. Mina looked at him surprised.

"What ruby ring?" She asked her tone flat and cold.

"Weren't you wearing one-"

"I was never wearing a ring when I met you." Mina turned towards Jing, her eyes cold. "How do you know about the ring?" She asked her expression cold.

"I just remembered something wrong, that's all..." Jing said, looking away from her piercing eyes. A silence formed between them. Mina did not move at all, neither did Jing.

"What happened in Formidine?" She asked. "Tell me."

"Nothing happened." He responded.

"Tell me what happened."

"I'm telling you nothing happened."

"Tell. Me. What. Happened." She spat out. "That is not a request." She grabbed Jing's shirt and pulled him close to her, his face only inches from her. Jing started sweating a bit, Mina's eyes grew colder. "Tell me now..." She tossed him backwards into his chair as the bartender refilled her drink.

"Fine, I'll tell you." He said, defeated. "That box let anyone around see the memories of the one who opened it. Me and Kir saw what happened in your past. I'm sorry but I was curious and-" Mina's slammed the cup onto the table and stood up quickly. She turned towards him, a shadow covering her eyes. Mina slapped Jing in the face, the sound ringing across the room. It was drowned out by the loud talking and the noise the bar made. Only Kir noticed the sound and watched as Mina and Jing argued.

"How dare you...." She told him bitterly.

"You wouldn't have told me anyway," He defended himself.

"That's still doesn't give you the right! I have my own reasons why I keep those memories locked away." She yelled at him.

"Why?" He asked, standing up too. He was taller than her so she tried to take a step back but Jing grabbed her arm. "Tell me why?"

"Why should I tell you?" Mina yelled, shaking his arm off. "How can I trust you?" She wiped at her eyes, tears starting to form in them. "If you really did see my memories, you know why I'm angry everytime you get close to me. There's a reason!"

"You don't have to end up like her!" He told her fiercely.

"Just leave me alone!" She shouted, pushing him away and running out of the bar. No one noticed the arguement besides Kir.

"Excuse me for a moment, Ladies." Kir excused himself and flew over to where Jing was. He stood there with a blank expression. It slowly twisted into a hurt expression. "You okay, Jing?"

"She pushed me away, Kir....For some reason it hurts. I don't know why but it hurts..." Jing said, sitting back down in his seat. "It hurts like....not like when you get stabbed or when your wounded but....it's a different hurt..."

"Okay, Stop using the word hurt. Your going to ruin that word for everyone." Kir said. "First of all, it's called rejection. Something tells me you told her about the box thing?" Jing nodded. "When then go after her, stupid!" Kir said, pushing up him up from the chair and out the door. "Get that girl back! You'll find out why you're hurting soon!" The bird closed the door and sighed. "Now where were we ladies?"

Jing looked at the closed door and sighed. "Crazy bird," he looked towards the sky. "If I were Mina, where would I go?"

-------------------------------------

Mina ran outside the door and out into the cold, her breath making white puffs into the air. She quickly ran to anywhere that wasn't here. She jumped up onto a roof and started jumped from roof to roof. Anything just to get her mind off the situation. She stopped catch her breath and sat down next to a smoking chimney. She pulled her knees up to her face and wrapped her arms around them, holding herself tightly. Like if she were to let go, she would just fall apart. _You don't have to end up like her! _What Jing said played over her head again and again. She stood up and covered her ears trying to block all sound out. "No!" She shouted at the voice in her head. "Everything bad happens to me! I've lost Cynric! I've lost Charlotte! I'm not meant to have a happy ending! I've accepted it! Why can't you?!" She yelled, tears streaming down her face.

"Because everyone deserves a happy ending..." Mina looked up shocked as a pair of arms wrapped around her, holding her tight. "Just because you have a bad past doesn't mean you can't have a good future..."

"Jing...How did you find me?" She asked.

"It was easy; all I had to do was look for the crazy woman screaming at the wind because of voices in her head." Mina laughed a little and wiped a tear from her eye. "Mina...I have something to ask you..." Jing said, his voice strained. Mina tried to look behind her but Jing's grip on her was too tight. "Do...do..."

"Do...what?" She asked.

"I like you, I really do. When you pushed me away, something in me broke. It hurt like something I have never felt before." He said. Mina stayed quiet. He couldn't see her expression at all. "Mina?"

"That's not a question." she said. He loosened his grip and Mina spun around smiling. "That's a statement." Jing smiled at her smile. "That's amazing, not only did I stole your jewel....twice, but I also stole the King of Bandits' heart." Mina looked at the ground blushing away. Jing lifted her face up, cupping her chin in his hand. Mina back up, blushing still until she bumped into the chimney, Jing snickered a little, pinning her against the brick wall. He leaned in close until Mina could feel his breath on her skin. Her breathing rate increased as Jing snickered some more. He leaned in, his face just inches from hers. "You know," She breathed. "I never had my first kiss." Jing smirked when he heard this.

"Then let me do what I do best and steal it from you."

* * *

MUWHAHAHAH, SHORT CLIFFHANGER CHAPTER. Well, I don't know if this is a cliffhanger or not but whatever. There will be either 2 more chapters or 1, depending on how lazy I am. Lol, but I'm planning to write a sequel so don't worry. Okay?


	9. And The Crown Belongs To

My rewrite of Chapter 9, most are the same but this is just more elaborate. :D

* * *

"FOUND YOU!" Kir burst in suddenly. Jing jumped back surprised as the black bird flew into view. Jing quickly turned his head aside trying to hide the fact that he's blushing as madly as Mina was right now. She kept her head down and laughed at herself inside. "I looked for you guys everywhere! Do you know how worried I was? I left 3 hot chicks back in the bar! That should prove how worried I was!" Kir pouted.

"Sorry, Kir." Mina giggled to herself, looking up at the bird. Kir looked a little confused.

"Why are you all red?" He asked, Mina flinched slightly and quickly put both of her hands on her cheeks. They felt warmer than usual. "Did something happen? Did I interrupt something?"

_Yes, Kir! You did! God! You have the worst timing imaginable!_ Jing thought to himself. "Nope, nothing at all Kir." Jing told his best friend, praying that his face wasn't red anymore.

"That's good." Kir smirked mysteriously. Jing caught this look and glanced quickly at Mina, who was deep in thought about something. Her eyes were serious and her lips moved slightly as if she was talking to herself.

"Mina..." Jing said. The girl snapped out of her trance and quickly looked up.

"Uh, yes?" She asked. "Something the matter?"

"Nothing, you looked like you were thinking about something."

"Oh, it's nothing. Just....planning...and worrying." She said meekly. Before Jing could ask what it was, Mina held up her hand and waved it to dismiss the topic. "Let's go get this crown then!" Mina said with enthusiasm. "If I get this crown then I win, but if you get it then it's a tie. Right?" Jing nodded.

"First person to touch it, right?" The bird asked. Mina nodded. "Then let's hurry, Jing!" Kir started pushing Jing near the edge as Mina made a dash off the roof, leaping off its edge and landing gracefully on the other roof. She quickly turned around and blew the two a kiss before leaping from roof to roof. Jing looked a little dazed as he saw her prance away with such grace. "Seriously, what the hell happened between you two back there?" Kir asked again, curious.

"Nothing, Kir." Jing said sternly. Kir didn't believe him. "Let's just say you have the worst timing imaginable." He laughed. Suddenly, Mina landed right next to them. She stood up straight and ran her fingers through her hair and laughed softly.

"Sorry! I sorta....went the wrong way." She giggled. "Tee Hee, See ya later!" She bidded before running off in the right direction this time. Jing and Kir stared at the girl in amazement.

"You have weird taste in girls, Kir." Jing said, looking to the side slightly blushing.

"Whatever, you're just jealous because she likes me better." He taunted.

"Shut your beak. Heh, heh." Jing laughed nervously.

--------------------------------

Mina leapt off the roof and landed on the snow covered ground below and gazed up at an entrance in a mountain. "The shrine of Zalera..." She whispered into the wind. "The guardian spirit of the crown," She knelt down to the ground and slowly brushed away the snow to find the brown cold earth underneath. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to brush away the white powder. "When the crown fell to the earth, the first person to lay their hands upon it was a shop owner by the name of Zalera. Ever since finding the crown, she had the best luck anyone can imagine. She married into royalty, had riches beyond her dreams, all men wanted her, and all women envied her. The gods found that their prized crown was missing and saw how the luck of this commoner was changed so they cursed her." Mina spoke of the legend and searched for an item hidden beneath the powdery snow. Mina gasped as her hands finally grasped something cold and bronze, a smile slowly spread across her face. "Zalera soon died afterwards though murder. Someone has poisoned her meal when she was eating dinner, poor thing. That's not the worst of it though; she was cursed so that even the peace of death was stripped away from her." She went up to the entrance of the mountain and slowly rubbed her hand on the cold metal door blocking her way. "She now stands as a rotting corpse protecting the god's crown." Mina slipped the key into the keyhole as the door began to shake and lift open. "Let's see if I can't put the poor thing out of her misery." She snickered before entering the dark hallway. The door fell down, trapping her inside the dark room. Mina sighed and reached for her bag around her waist. She grabbed a giant stick nearby and ripped off some of her dress and wrapped it around the stick's end. She quickly took a match from her bag and lit it lighting the way in the shadows. "Good thing I have a long enough dress, great thing I'm wearing pants underneath." She giggled. "Kir's gonna be disappointed." The darkness seemed to be overwhelming with the torch as the only light of hope Mina had of finding the crown. This didn't seem to bother her, instead she looked forward to this challenged. "Now if I were a zombie guarding a crown, where would I be....?"

-----------------------------------

Jing finally found a mountain with a bronze door embedded in the side and noticed the footprints in the snow. Kir flew around in a circle up in the sky scouting for anything interesting. Jing noticed a bronze key lying on top of the snow near the door and went over and picked it up. It was still warm despite being in the snow. _You were here very recently. I wonder how far you've gotten already, Mina. _Jing thought to himself. Quickly, thoughts memories Mina ran through his mind. He remembered the way the two of them danced underneath the moonlight with lanterns surrounding them, a crowd cheering for their beautiful performance. The sad look she had when she faced the Mirror that showed who your true love was. He bit his lip when it came to that moment and he regretted it. Truth be told, he didn't even look into the mirror and only faked it to see Mina's reaction. His thoughts went back to Mina's sad face, her eyes brimming with tears. Suddenly, Stir flashed into his mind. He was shocked at himself. His heart raced as he remembered Stir. _Those two are so similar...._He told himself. Jing gripped the key tighter as the two of them began dancing around in his mind.

_I never danced in my life; I want to share my first dance with someone special. _He remembered Stir's words echoing through his mind.

_That was so much fun, Jing! That dance was beyond amazing. _Mina's subtle laughter floated through his mind.

"Jing!" Kir's voiced snapped him out of his thinking as he looked up. Kir slowly flew down and landed on his shoulder. "Did you find anything? I saw nothing from up there. Nada, Zip, Zilch." Jing held the key he found in his hand and slowly unclenched his fist. "Ooooh, a key. I wonder where it'll fit."

"Maybe in the keyhole right in front of us?" Jing asked rhetorically.

"Very funny, just unlock the door, will ya?" Jing snickered a little and inserted the key and turned it sideways. The door rumbled and lifted up revealing a dark passageway. As soon as he entered the dark cave, the door slammed down behind the two of them leaving them defenseless to the shadows. "J-J-Jing, that's your arm I'm grabbing r-r-right?" Kir stuttered.

"Yeah, you hold it any tighter and my circulation is going to be cut off." Jing joked. Kir groaned at the horrible attempt to make a funny joke and just continued to gaze around.

"Jing, I can't see anything in here. You have a torch or something?" Kir asked. Jing didn't reply. He was lost in thought again. The darkness reminded him of the time he wandered into Stir's palace. The scene replayed back into his mind like if it just happened. Jing had just climbed through the window as Stir was choosing a dress for viewing the "Mas Corrida." _What are you doing here? You're not suppose to be here. _Stir's enchanting voice said. _I guess I just got lost._ Jing replied nonchalantly. _The palace is not a place where you just get lost in! Especially now since we have more guards than ever to keep an eye out for the bandit king! _Jing smirked at the mention his name and turned to the dress rack. _Is that so?_ He muttered. He pulled out an elegant dress, a light blue with frills fit or a lady. Stir's shocked look was as clear as day in his memories. _That's the dress my mother use to wear..._ Stir's voice was shaking as she gazed upon the dress.

"JING! ANSWER ME!" Kir yelled, snapping him out of his flashback.

"Yeah, Kir. I'm still here. I was just thinking of something." Jing replied.

"Well, then start thinking of a way to get a move on! This place is creeping me out." Kir admitted. "I'm ashamed to say it but I'm scared."

"Heh," Jing laughed. He started feeling his wall through the passage way, his hand against the walls to see his way through. After a couple minutes of stumbling through the dark, he saw a flickering orange-ish light at the end of a hallway. Quickly, Jing ran after it to see a torch hanging from the wall and a lit room passed it. Through the entryway, he saw Mina fighting an undead zombie. Her expression was serious and every time she hit the zombie, a piece of its rotting flesh would end up on her hands. Then Mina jump back at a far distance and look agonized and wipe the rotting flesh off on the wall going "ew, ew, ew!!!" Jing laughed at the sight as Kir looked pain-stricken.

"Jing! Aren't we gonna go help her?" Kir asked, obviously wanting to save his fallen angel from harm's way. Jing was lost in his thoughts again. He gazed at the seriousness of her face breaking out into girlish grimaces and remembered the first time he met her. The serious gaze on her face as she ran through coco-oco. The smile on her face when she stole his gem. The sadness in her eyes as she gazed at her silver pocket watch. _I'm sorry for stealing your jewel earlier. I didn't mean it, King of Bandits. _She said. Jing remembered he was shocked when she figured out who he was. _You're the Queen of Thieves, right? _He asked. Mina nodded. They both talked for awhile, Jing asked about the pocket watch several times to figure out its value. Mina kept saying that same thing. _It's a treasure that's meaningful to me. It reminds me of someone special. _She would say. _A boyfriend? _Jing would ask. Mina would laugh a soft and light laugh and shake her head. _A dear friend..._ By the way she acted; you would have never guessed what happened in her dark past.

"They both were strong enough to do something about their life, not caring what happens." Jing whispered to himself. _Stir entered the fight to prove that she could carry on the crown. Mina steals to prove to herself and the world that she is the best thief in the world. They both....moved on. _Kir looked at Jing with a worried and urgent look.

"Jing! Come on! We have to help her!" Jing snapped out of his thoughts again and nodded. Him and Kir both ran into the room. "Mina! We're here! Need a hand?" Kir yelled. The zombie threw a hand near the guys and started snickering breathlessly. Everyone sweat dropped.

"Wow, a zombie with a sense of humor. What's the world coming too?" Mina sighed. She took this change and pulled out her Kendama and quickly wrapped the zombie up with the string. The undead woman tried to escape but found it fruitless. Mina flung the zombie over towards the wall as the string unraveled and the zombie slammed into the wall. It slowly dropped to the ground before standing up again. "Don't you ever give up?!" Mina shouted, frustrated. Jing slowly walked up to the staggering undead as Kir flew over to Mina.

"Your just trying to protect what's yours, aren't you?" Jing said calmly. The zombie just stood there, not attacking. "Well help you, we're trying to take the crown and put it where no one else will be able to touch. We'll protect your treasure for you. I know it means everything to you but you can't keep forcing yourself to go on like this." He pointed to the rotting body she's trying to hold together. "You need to learn to...move on." The zombie staggered back, shocked by his words. Somehow it made sense as the zombie stood up straight, a light beginning to radiate from her body. A beautiful lady with long raven hair and a gorgeous red gown appear in the place of the zombie.

"Thank you young man. Thank you..." She told him as the lady began to disappear. All too quickly, the light faded and the corpse fell to the ground and shattered into dust. Mina and Kir just stood in the background in awe of what happened.

"Wow, Jing..." Mina gasped; she collapsed to the ground, landing on her knee breathing hard. "You really have a way with woman. Dead, alive, human, or animal-wise." She joked, trying to catch her breath.

"Why are you so tired?" Jing asked. Mina got mad.

"I WAS FIGHTING A FRIGGIN ZOMBIE! THEY DON'T DIE EASILY! ALL YOU DID WAS TALK TO IT AND SHE DISAPPEARS! NONE OF US AND HAVE IT EASY LIKE YOU!" She screamed, her voice echoed in the room. Kir covered his ears from the sonic blast.

"Mina! Calm down! We're going after treasures! Not talking about missiles! Calm down!" Kir yelled back. Mina laughed nervously and stuck her tongue out at Jing.

"Oh, crap!" Mina said, reality hitting her. She broke out into a sprint down the hallway before Jing realized why she was running.

"Hey! Mina! Why are you running?" Kir asked as she suddenly disappeared from view. Jing quickly ran after her. It was now a race between the two. He quickly caught up with her with ease and tried to knock her down. Mina saw this coming and quickly jumped backwards sending Jing into a wall. She laughed and continued running until she could see the crown shining from a pedestal and a light coming from a hole in the roof. She skidded to a stop and tried to catch her breath.

"Why...does...every...treasure...has...to have...a pedestal...and a light...coming from the roof?" She panted to herself. Jing snuck up behind her as she took her kendama and swung it, blocking the knife he pulled from his sleeve out. They both blocked each other and started attacking one another. Each of them reading each others' moves so perfectly. Every hit was blocked, every kick was dodged. It was like they were dancing a duel of death. Kir flew over to catch up to them and saw them fighting each other. Kir realized this was his chance and slowly flew over to the crown. Mina dodged a slice of Jing's knife and back flipped 3 times and grabbed Kir and tossed him towards Jing. He dodged the bird and quickly made a bee's line for Mina. Kir landed against the wall with a thud. "Sorry, Kir!" She yelled out before dodging Jing's uppercut. She tried to a kick sweep but Jing jumped up and rebounded against the wall and sprung back with force against Mina. She ducked as Jing flipped mid-air and landed on his feet.

"Getting tired?" Jing asked, panting. Mina stood about 15 feet away, breathing heavily also.

"Not really, why? You tired?" She asked.

"Nope, I'm worried about your well-being. I mean, you did suffer a lot already, wouldn't want you to suffer some more." As soon as Jing said those words, he regretted it. Mina's eyes hardened.

"Well, don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." She said her voice cold. Mina dashed straight for Jing as he sidestepped her move. She rebounded and swung her kendama at him; he blocked the ball and sent it flying straight back at her. She ducked the ball sending it flying straight towards the wall before swinging it around. The ball accidently hit the crown and sent it flying into the air. Kir was still dizzy from the impact of the wall so he couldn't get the crown. Both Mina and Jing saw this chance and leapt into the air. They both reached out their arms to reach for the crown. Mina reached for it further but then Jing flipped mid-air and rebounded against the wall, tackling Mina and taking her down with him. She fell to the ground first, Jing pinned her against the cold ground. He looked at her serenely. Mina blushed a vibrant red. His hands pinned her arms to the ground. Jing was on top of her as her chest moved up and down rapidly. He glanced up to see the crown in her hand. Mina smirked. "I win, King of Bandits. I guess this makes me better than you." She taunted. Jing's eyes narrowed.

"That was just luck." Jing said.

"What you call luck, I call skills." She laughed breathlessly.

"Well, if I can't steal that crown. I guess there's only one thing I can steal now." He said, leaning down closer to her flushed face. Her chest moved rapidly breathing only short breaths. Finally his warm lips met hers. She didn't fight back, she didn't fuss. Maybe she didn't have the strength too anymore. Maybe she wanted him to kiss her. All Jing knew was that her lips were so warm, her skin against his. He finally broke the kiss and stood up. Mina stood up by herself and knocked Jing's hand aside. She walked up to his side and placed the crown on top of his head.

"Perfect," She whispered. Jing fixed the crown on top of his head as Mina giggled. He grabbed her hand and gently kissed it, a thought of Stir flashed through his mind. Jing grimaced as Mina blushed. Kir finally got it all together and flew towards them.

"Ah-ha!" He yelled. "I knew it! You two are together all along!"

"No, Kir. We aren't." Mina said bluntly.

"But you two just kis-"

"Nope, we didn't. He just landed on top of me, that's all. Clumsy Oaf." Mina sighed, elbowing Jing in the tummy. He winced but laughed. Jing wrapped his arms around Mina's waist and pulled her close.

"Sure," Kir rolled his eyes. "You guys aren't together." Mina laughed at this but suddenly she felt a sharp pain within her. She quickly grabbed her chest, where we heart was and breathed deeply.

"What? Have I gotten to you too?" Jing joked. Mina laughed and shoved him off.

"Nothing, just a cramp." She lied. Jing apparently bought it and Kir rolled his eyes again.

"How about we go visit Zaza?" Jing asked once they were outside. Mina stretched her limbs with a satisfying crack and Kir flew around and absorbed the fresh air. "The masquerade should be near this time of year." Something inside Mina hurt when he said that but no matter, she will get over it.

"Sure, let's go." She agreed. "After all, I still need to find more things to beat you at, right?" She laughed. Jing pouted and Kir laughed. She smiled at their smiling face.

_Things are all happy now, right? If that's it...why does it feel like...the pain...everything I tried blocking out...is returning? No...This pain...is hurts more then what I've experienced in the past. But why?_

* * *

WOW, THAT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE LAST ONE. OKies, now I'm satisfied. TIME TO WORK ON THE SEQUEL!


End file.
